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Stock Watch: Why Investors Reacted Differently To Roche And J&J Q4 Updates

Similar Sales Growth, Different Narrative For 2025

 
• By Andy Smith

What a company says – and does not say – about its outlook can sway sentiment. Meanwhile, the snapshot of a big pharma’s quarterly results offers an insight to the circle of a portfolio’s life, with new products ascending to blockbuster status as previous blockbusters disappear.

Stock Watch Image, Andy Smith
ANDY SMITH OFFERS A LIFE SCIENCE INVESTOR'S PERSPECTIVE ON BIOPHARMA BUSINESS

There was no headline fanfare when Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reported its fourth-quarter 2024 results. While the announcement included the phrase “transformative year,” the separation of its consumer division made that statement factual and did not prevent a plummeting stock price. By contrast, when Roche reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results, the headline professed its “strong 2024 results.” Investors were suitably impressed: Roche’s stock rose over the day to close up by almost 2% in Zurich and by about 3% in New York, while the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index rose by just under 2%. With Roche’s fourth-quarter group sales growth being marginally ahead of J&J’s on the fourth quarter of 2023, and the same on the third quarter of 2024, I initially struggled to understand the contrasting investor reactions.

Roche’s fourth-quarter group sales grew by almost 6% on the corresponding quarter of 2023 and by...

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