J&J leads big pharma higher after earnings despite Trump’s latest tariff threat

After posting a double beat for Q2 2025, J&J (NYSE:JNJ), the pharma sector’s bellwether for the earnings season, added ~6% on Wednesday, marking its biggest intraday gain in nearly two years and rallying its peers despite President Trump’s latest tariff threat against the sector.

VanEck Pharma ETF (PPH), which represents 25 of the leading global drug stocks, rose ~1%, as did other leading drugmakers such as Bristol Myers (BMY), Amgen (AMGN), Gilead (GILD), and GSK (GSK). Meanwhile, Eli Lilly (LLY) and AbbVie (ABBV) added ~2% each.

The sector’s rally overshadowed President Trump’s remarks that his administration will go ahead with plans to impose trade levies on pharmaceuticals by the end of this month before moving to a “very high” tariff regime after about a year, giving companies enough time to build capacity.

“Probably at the end of the month, and we’re going to start off with a low tariff and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we’re going to make it a very high tariff,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

However, shares of the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J (NYSE:JNJ) rallied after the company beat Street forecasts for revenue and earnings with its Q2 financials and, citing forex tailwinds and operational performance, boosted the full-year outlook to a level above consensus.

Nevertheless, Edmund Ingham, Investing Group Leader for Haggerston BioHealth, downgraded JNJ to Hold from Buy, noting a modest guidance raise and an unresolved talc litigation, among other factors. “JNJ is a dividend-paying blue chip that will give you a nice return in almost all circumstances but won’t make you rich,” the analyst wrote.