By Matt Grossman

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday recorded stronger sales year over year in the latest quarter as revenue gains from its pharmaceutical division boosted the company's top-line results despite relatively flat performance in its consumer-health and medical-devices businesses.

The pharmaceutical and consumer-health company, based in New Brunswick, N.J., logged a fourth-quarter profit of $1.74 billion, or 65 cents a share, compared with a profit of $4.01 billion, or $1.50 a share, in the same three-month period a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company's profit was $1.86 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting an adjusted profit of $1.82 a share.

Revenue was $22.48 billion, up from $20.75 billion in last year's fourth quarter. Analysts had forecast revenue of $21.66 billion.

Pharmaceutical sales climbed 16% year over year to $12.27 billion on higher sales of drugs such as Stelara, for inflammatory diseases, and Darzalex, for multiple myeloma. Consumer-health sales ticked up 1.4% to $3.62 billion as U.S. sales of products such as Tylenol and Listerine increased. Medical-devices revenue was down slightly at $6.59 billion. The segment was hit by reduced demand in 2020 as people delayed elective medical procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chairman and Chief Executive Alex Gorsky said the company would soon share data from a Phase 3 study of the vaccine it is developing to prevent Covid-19 infection. Approval of the vaccine would help boost the U.S. supply of shots.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-26-21 0716ET