The FTSE 100 index closed down 10.35 points, 0.1%, at 10,857.70.
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Medical sector earnings are off to a strong start, and four biotech companies are positioned to potentially beat estimates in upcoming quarterly results.
After spending years and hundreds of millions of dollars, Johnson and Johnson has won FDA approval for its new surgical robot Ottava. Can it challenge the dominance of competitors who entered the race years earlier, or is the market already spoken for?
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) just issued one of the weirdest profit warnings in health care. The biotech business decreased its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to between $10.96 and $11.11 a share, from a range of $11.60 to $11.75. This year, the newly closed acquisition of Firefly Bio and the ...
AbbVie (ABBV) lowered its full-year earnings guidance on Friday to account for the expected dilution
Bristol Myers Squibb faces declining revenue in its legacy drug portfolio, but new products like Opdivo are offsetting the drop.
Under the agreement, Johnson & Johnson would make total initial payments of $785 million, and has the exclusive option to acquire Sail for $2.58 billion.
Moby summary of Anika Therapeutics, Inc.'s Q2 2026 earnings call
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $5.5 billion to tie up remaining lawsuits that claim its talc products caused ovarian cancer. The drugmaker, which has been fighting talc-related lawsuits for more than a decade, said that the settlement is conditioned on at least 95% of remaining claimants participating. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge denied a $9 billion settlement proposed by company subsidiary Red River Talc last year that would have been one of the biggest mass tort settlements in history.

<body><p>STORY: :: New York / July 27, 2026</p><p>:: Dietrich Knauth, Legal Reporter</p><p>"After years of litigation, about 70,000 court cases, and three bankruptcies, Johnson& Johnson has agreed to a $5.5 billion talc settlement. Why are they settling now? </p><p>:: Why did J&J settle after more than a decade of talc litigation?</p><p>"So tens of thousands of women have accused Johnson& Johnson of causing their ovarian cancer. They've alleged that talc-based products, including baby powder, have been contaminated with asbestos and caused them to develop cancer after using these products for a long period of time. Johnson& Johnson has denied that, but these cases have continued to go to trial."</p><p>"And after a couple of attempts to settle these cases through bankruptcy courts, Johnson& Johnson has now reached a deal where they think they can end all of these cases for an overall payment that is about $5.5 billion, although that number could rise depending on how many people participate in the settlement."</p><p>"One of the plaintiff's lawyers told me today that he thinks it's closer to $7 billion. That's not something we're going to know for some time."</p><p>:: Could J&J still face new talc lawsuits in the future?</p><p>:: Johnson & Johnson</p><p>"It does not fully close the door on all future talc litigations. Somebody could develop cancer in the future, decide that they want to file a lawsuit against Johnson& Johnson, because they think that company's product caused their cancer. The reason for that is that there's something called a latency period, which is essentially the delay between when you experience the factors that caused your cancer and when that cancer actually shows up."</p><p>"But, you know, this deal basically gets rid of all of the existing cases. That's the idea."</p><p>J&J reached the settlement after a series of wins in court, including victories in individual trials, successful efforts to disqualify plaintiffs' lawyers from the litigation, and court rulings against experts that plaintiffs had used to prove their cases in court. </p><p>J&J won a significant court victory in the long-running legal battle last week, when a federal judge cast doubt on individual plaintiffs' ability to prove that talc specifically caused their ovarian cancer.</p><p>J&J has long denied that its talc products caused cancer, saying that talc was safe and did not contain asbestos. The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product.</p><p>Before the bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in talc trials, with a multibillion verdict in favor of 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. The company won some trials outright and had other verdicts reduced on appeal.</p><p>Unlike the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday's agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.</p></body>
The healthcare company said the agreement covers the remaining ovarian talc litigation in federal multidistrict litigation proceedings and related state court cases.
By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it has reached a $5.5 billion settlement that will resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder and
A 2.8% Social Security raise barely covers a trip to the grocery store, so retirees are quietly rebuilding their paychecks around five dividend stocks with track records stretching back through every recession of the past two decades.

<body><p>STORY: U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the Dow gaining just under half a percent, the S&P 500 virtually flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sliding nearly two-thirds of a percent.</p><p>The S&P 500 technology index underperformed the broader market as chip stocks fell, with Intel dropping nearly 8% despite forecasting quarterly profit and revenue above Wall Street estimates.</p><p>Enthusiasm for the AI trade weakened after Alphabet's announcement earlier this week of a plan to hike capital spending even as it burns cash.</p><p>Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners, said that as a result investors are rotating into what he called "safer parts of the market."</p><p>"Pharmaceuticals have been flying, and that's been, I think, where we see the rotation of the market right now. [FLASH] You look at the iShares, pharmaceutical fund, it's big components that are J&J and Eli Lilly, they're at all-time highs. And they're still relatively not super expensive stocks. So I think that's a place that can be bought and held. And of course, energy. Exxon's going to announce earnings next week. I bet they're going to be a blockbuster and they're going to continue to be because they make money at $60 a barrel. At $100 a barrel, forget about it. They do very well."</p><p>The S&P 500 real estate sector also outperformed during the session. Its leading gainer was Digital Realty Trust, which rallied 11% after it raised its full-year forecast for funds from operations.</p><p>Among other gainers, shares of SLB climbed 11% after the oilfield services firm beat expectations for second-quarter profit.</p><p>Investors now turn their attention to quarterly results next week from Magnificent 7 megacaps Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Apple.</p></body>
Fixed-rate bonds cannot outrun inflation over a 25-year retirement, yet most boomers keep reaching for them anyway. Three companies have raised their dividends for between 50 and 70 consecutive years and may offer a more durable solution, though each carries a hidden transition risk that income investors need to weigh.
Generic drugmakers have much thinner margins, and are less interested in “reshoring” to the US where the costs are higher.
Seventy companies have raised their dividends through every recession and rate shock for at least a quarter century, but a bruising few quarters for some of NOBL's most-watched names put that unbroken record under real pressure heading into mid-2026.
A portfolio paying $55,000 this year feels useful today, but inflation has a way of quietly making that same paycheck feel smaller every year you spend it. The yield you choose right now could either protect your retirement income or slowly hollow it out.
The typical American household spent $78,535 in 2024. Headline PCE inflation was running at 4.1% year over year in May 2026, which means the same lifestyle can become thousands of dollars more expensive in a single year. Social Security benefits are rising 2.8% in 2026, but that adjustment may not fully offset the higher cost ... The Portfolio That Lets You Ignore Inflation
Every new tariff headline, rate decision, and earnings miss seems to demand a financial response, and that constant pressure is exhausting. There is a way to build a portfolio so sturdy that the daily news cycle loses its grip on your nerves.
Q2 earnings are off to a strong start. Tech, Energy, Materials, Finance and Aerospace ETFs could shine as profit growth broadens across sectors.
Find insight on Johnson & Johnson, Rubber Industries, and more in the latest Market Talks covering health care.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reports robust sales growth and raises full-year guidance, despite facing headwinds from STELARA and challenges in the MedTech segment.
Find insight on Johnson & Johnson, Roche Holding, Novartis and more in the latest Market Talks covering health care.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) raised its full-year 2026 outlook after reporting second-quarter sales growth that management said was supported by strength in Innovative Medicine, new product launches and a broad portfolio that helped offset continued pressure from STELARA biosimilar competition.