Johnson & Johnson Stock Forecast: Trending Upgrade By Top Analyst

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock has risen 4.2% over the past week, 10.1% over the past month, and an impressive 55.3% over the past 12 months. Wall Street’s analysts are leaning bullish, with a “ModerateBuy” consensus and a 12‑month average price target of $241.25, implying moderate upside from the last closing price of $227.72. For investors, this positions J&J as a large-cap pharma name that has already delivered strong gains but is still seen as having room to run.

One of the most notable recent moves came from Terence Flynn of Morgan Stanley, who upgraded Johnson & Johnson’s rating to Buy (Overweight) on January 28, 2026, and lifted his price target to $262 from $200. This new target suggests further upside from current levels and places Flynn among the more optimistic voices on the stock. His upgrade aligns with the broader narrative that J&J’s growth outlook has improved and that recent sector dynamics have reduced some of the uncertainty that previously weighed on large biopharma names.

Flynn’s report highlights that J&J outperformed the market last year, gaining about 43% versus 16% for the S&P 500 and 21% for the DRG (pharmaceutical index). He attributes this outperformance to increased confidence in the company’s forward growth and to rotational flows into biopharma following Most Favored Nation (MFN) agreements in the sector, which helped clear a major policy overhang. Even after this strong run, he notes that J&J trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of roughly 19x/17x on his 2026/2027 earnings estimates, still at about a 3x discount to the broader S&P 500.

Crucially for growth-focused investors, Flynn sees a path to earnings-per-share beats powered by one of the most robust new product cycles in biopharma. He points to key franchises such as Tremfya and Icotyde in immunology, Tecvayli and Carvykti in multiple myeloma, and Rybrevant in lung cancer. After J&J’s recent Therapeutics Doctor Days, he came away confident enough to raise estimates for Tremfya, Icotyde, Tecvayli and Darzalex, projecting these and other products to add roughly $3–$7 billion in additional annual revenues on top of a $100 billion-plus base. On this basis, he now forecasts 2026–2030 compound annual growth rates of about 5.5% for revenue and 12% for EPS, placing J&J in a “higher growth” cohort within big biopharma.

For investors weighing the quality of this call, it’s worth noting that Terence Flynn is a N-star analyst who ranks 907 out of 11,984 on TipRanks, with a success rate of about 59.64% and an average return of 10.4% per rating. His view is that J&J’s momentum is “too hard to ignore,” with an upgraded rating, a higher price target, and expectations that the company’s new product cycle can nearly offset its loss-of-exclusivity pressures. Never miss a stock rating. Find all the latest ratings on TipRanks’ Top Wall Street Analysts page.