JNJ
The $100 billion flex
Johnson & Johnson’s management team basically walked into the first-quarter earnings call and said: Yes, the old blockbuster is fading. No, we’re not panicking. The company says it can still reach $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time in 2026, which is a pretty loud way of saying the business is still humming even as Stelara gets bullied by competition.
The replacement parade
That confidence isn’t just corporate pep-talk energy. J&J is leaning on newer launches to keep the engine running, especially Icotyde, its March-approved immunology drug. The pitch is simple: if you can’t keep every old blockbuster forever, you need a new one waiting in the wings like a sequel nobody asked for but shareholders absolutely need.
Partnered with Protagonist Therapeutics, Icotyde is being framed as a needle-free oral peptide that blocks the IL-23 pathway — which matters because it gives psoriasis patients another option and gives J&J another shot at proving its pipeline can do more than merely fill holes.
Why investors care
For investors, this is less about one shiny product and more about whether J&J can keep the growth machine running while Stelara’s sales slide. If management’s 2026 math holds up, the company gets to wear the “$100 billion revenue” badge and maybe convince the market this isn’t just a one-hit-wonder pharma story.
Big picture: J&J is trying to show that even when a blockbuster ages out, the company still has enough new drugs in the wings to keep the top line moving up and to the right.