NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported Wednesday that its second-quarter sales increased 27.1 percent to $23.3 billion, with operational sales growth of 23 percent and adjusted operational growth of 23.8 percent. Net earnings increased 73.1 percent, totaling $6.3 billion in the recent quarter compared with $3.6 billion in the year-ago period, according to the announcement. In the J&J’s medical devices business segment, which includes vision care and contact lenses, worldwide sales rose 62.7 percent in the quarter on a reported basis (57 percent on an operational basis) to approximately $7 billion (compared with $4.3 billion in the year-ago period).

In the U.S. market, sales in the “vision” segment increased 88 percent to $467 million (compared with $248 million in the year-ago period). International sales in the vision segment rose 60 percent to $716 million.
 
Sales of contact lenses in the U.S. rose 73.3 percent to $352 million, from $203 million in the year-ago period. International sales of contact lenses experience a slower recovery than in the U.S., with sales increasing 47 percent to $517 million. In the vision/surgical segment, U.S. sales showed a strong recovery, more than doubling from the year-ago quarter’s $45 million to the recent quarter’s $115 million.
 
“Our second-quarter results showcase Johnson & Johnson’s diversified portfolio, driven by strong sales and earnings growth across our medical device, consumer health and pharmaceutical businesses,” Alex Gorsky, chairman and chief executive officer, said in the announcement. “I’m so proud of our 136,000 colleagues who remain focused on delivering our medicines and products to patients and consumers around the world, in addition to advancing our pipeline with new product launches and regulatory submissions.”
 
In its announcement, J&J said that sales of medical devices worldwide were primarily driven by “the benefit of market recovery from COVID-19 impacts and the associated deferral of medical procedures in the prior year across all of our businesses, including surgery, orthopaedics, vision and interventional solutions.”

The company noted that, in the second quarter, it received regulatory approval and subsequently launched the Tecnis Synergy and Tecnis Synergy Toric II IOLs, a next generation treatment for cataract patients, in the U.S. and Canadian markets.

Following the release of Q2 results, J&J raised its full-year 2021 guidance for sales growth to a range of 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent for its base business. The sales-growth range provided in April was a range of 8.7 percent to 9.9 percent.