BUZZ — Johnson & Johnson slips as weak device sales clouds earnings beat

(Updates) * Shares of Johnson & Johnson fall 4.4% to $252.38 * JNJ's Q3 MedTech sales rise 2.5% to $8.6 bln, but misses analysts' est of $8.71 bln - LSEG * Overall, Q3 adj EPS of $2.59 beats est of $2.54, and sales of $25.4 bln beat est of $25.28 bln - LSEG * "While the results overall are generally inline with expectations, we believe investors will be disappointed in some of the details within the results," Guggenheim analyst Vamil Divan, noting that the MedTech results were "somewhat disappointing" * Co lifts its 2026 forecast and now expects about $101.2 bln in reported sales and adjusted EPS of $11.10 at the midpoint, vs prior view of about $101.1 bln and $11.04, respectively * Analysts, on avg, expect 2026 sales of about $101.3 bln and adjusted EPS of $11.08 - LSEG data * As of last close, JNJ up 27.4% YTD, outperforming the S&P 500 11.7% rise (Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru) ((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;)