Is Johnson & Johnson Stock a Good Fit For Your Portfolio Risk?

For questions about this article or underlying research, email help@trefis.com.

Investors holding or considering shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), the $653 billion maker of medicines and medical devices, likely have much of their remaining money following the broader market through an index fund. A portfolio gets steadier or bumpier depending on how J&J shares perform on the market’s good and bad days. So does J&J add to the market risk you already carry, or help steady it?

Johnson & Johnson Stock Has Steadied A Market Portfolio

Over the past year, J&J stock barely moved on the days the market rose and gained on the days it fell. During an average up day for the S&P 500 in that year, the index rose 0.63%, while a $10,000 holding in J&J gained about $3.67. On the average down day, the index fell 0.6%, yet that same holding gained about $27.40.

That does not make J&J a calm stock on its own. Its volatility, a measure of how widely the price swings over a year, was 20.7% over the past year, against 12.7% for the index. But J&J tended to move slightly the other way, carrying a beta of -0.2, a metric tracking how far the stock moves for each 1% move in the index. J&J did fall in March 2026, the index’s worst month of the past year, but by 1.6%, against 5.1% for the index.

For money already following the index, J&J steadied the broader portfolio over the past year, even though the stock itself was the bumpier of the two.

Has Johnson & Johnson Paid You For Its Swings?

Yes, slightly, over the five years to October 28, 2026. J&J returned 13.9% a year with dividends over that window, against 12.6% for the S&P 500. The stock also swung a little more, carrying an annual volatility of 18.0% against 17.0% for the index.

Over those five years, J&J earned 0.772 points of annual return for each point of annual volatility, against 0.741 for the index, meaning its swings paid slightly better than the market’s. Its daily moves also had little link to the index’s in that window. Their correlation was 0.14, on a scale where 1 means the two move in step.

Will J&J Stock Keep Moving Like This?

J&J’s swings could stay wide, since parts of the company outside its medicines business are in motion. The medicines business is the exception. In fiscal Q3 2026, sales in Innovative Medicine rose 7.9% to $16.8 billion, while MedTech sales grew 2.5%, which management said fell short of its expectations for the segment.

Management also plans to separate DePuy Synthes, its orthopedics business, by mid-2027. Additionally, the $5.5 billion agreement to resolve the ovarian talc litigation, announced in July, is conditional on at least 95% of claimants taking part.

If the past year repeats, J&J would add little to your gains on the market’s next up day and soften your loss on its next down day, though it moves more on its own than the index. Over the five years, however, its daily moves had a small positive link to the index’s, so J&J has not always moved against it. If the rest of your money already sits in other large drug and device makers, J&J adds more of that same business, not a different one. When J&J next reports, expected in January 2027, MedTech sales growth is the measure to watch.

Does This Mean You Should Act On JNJ?

Our purpose is to inform you with unique data so you make the right investment decisions. That said, betting on a single stock is always risky, no matter which direction you choose.

There is a smarter approach. Since its inception, the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has returned 105%, beating the benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. And it did so without taking the concentrated risk that comes with do-it-yourself stock picking. If that is how you want to invest, the HQ Portfolio is the place to start.

Spot an error or want more like this? Tell us in 10 seconds.