GAAP net income grew 31.8% to $4 billion and EPS improved
around 34% to $1.50. Adjusted net income fell 6.4% year-over-year to $5
billion. Adjusted EPS dropped 4.6% to $1.88 but beat estimates of $1.87.
Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO
stated, “We delivered strong underlying sales and earnings growth in 2019,
driven by the strength of our Pharmaceutical business, accelerating performance
in our Medical Devices business and improved profitability in our Consumer
business.”
Sales in the US increased 1.4% to $10.7 billion while international sales rose 2.1% to $9.9 billion. The Consumer and Pharmaceutical segments saw sales increases of 0.9% and 3.5% respectively, while sales in the Medical Devices segment was down 0.5%.
For the full year of 2020, the company expects reported
sales to grow 4-5% to $85.4 billion to $86.2 billion. Operational sales are
expected to grow 4.5-5.5% to $85.8-$86.6 billion. Adjusted operational sales
are expected to grow 5-6%.
Adjusted EPS is expected to increase 3.1-4.8% to a range of $8.95-9.10 and adjusted operational EPS is expected to rise 3.7-5.4% to a range of $9.00-9.15.
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