Cramer Favors J&J After Drop, While Amgen Trades at Lower Multiple

Jim Cramer said he liked Johnson & Johnson after its shares fell sharply, while citing Amgen’s 16% gain in a review of the Dow’s third-quarter performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the quarter down 2.7%, according to his Oct. 1 “Mad Money” segment.

Amgen reported second-quarter revenue of about $10.1 billion, up 10% year over year. Sales of Repatha rose 37% to $953 million, and Evenity sales increased 38% to $714 million.

But older products weighed on Amgen’s results. Prolia sales fell 32% and Xgeva sales dropped 34%, both amid biosimilar competition. Otezla sales declined 21%, while debt stood at about $57.3 billion at June 30.

J&J reported quarterly sales of about $25.3 billion, up 6.6%, and raised its full-year outlook. However, Stelara reduced Innovative Medicine’s operational sales growth by about 760 basis points. Medical technology operational sales increased 3.6%.

The article put J&J at about 23 times forward earnings, compared with 17.5 times for Amgen. It noted that J&J also has medical technology operations, while Amgen faces declines in established treatments and substantial debt.