, Columnist
For J&J and UnitedHealth, Making Money's Easy for Now
Strong quarters for the drug and health insurance giants can’t distract from looming policy and legal risks.
Despite healthy results, a troubling prognosis.
Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
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Being an enormously profitable industry leader doesn't mean what it used to.
Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealthGroup Inc., the world’s biggest health-care company and health insurer, respectively, reported third-quarter earnings results Tuesday morning that should thrill investors. Both managed to beat Wall Street earnings estimates and boosted full-year profit guidance above expectations as they generated a combined $80 billion in sales.