Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical business saw revenue increase 6.7 percent to $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2018 — leading the company to increase its full-year earnings guidance despite trimming it in the second quarter of this year because of foreign exchange rate woes, according to Bloomberg.
This marks the first time in nearly a decade that the healthcare conglomerate saw drugs make up more than half of the company's quarterly sales. While the company's consumer unit also is growing, the drugs business is growing at a much quicker rate thanks in part to strong sales of its cancer drugs.
Overall, J&J reported a third-quarter net income of $3.93 billion, up from $3.76 billion from the same period a year earlier.
J&J's consumer business saw $3.42 billion in sales, and its medical device unit saw sales of $6.59 billion in the third quarter.
"It was a strong quarter across all three of our segments of the business," J&J's CFO Joe Wolk told CNBC.
J&J adjusted its full-year earnings forecast to $8.13 to $8.18 per share, up from $8.07 to $8.17 per share. The company predicts full-year revenue of $81 billion to $81.4 billion.
In the second quarter of 2018, the healthcare conglomerate trimmed its adjusted earnings because of unfavorable exchange rates. Although international sales grew 7.5 percent, currency differences cut 4 percent of that growth, according to Bloomberg.