New York, Feb 13, 2026, 15:32 EST — Regular session
- Johnson & Johnson shares slipped roughly 0.4% in afternoon trading
- A Pennsylvania jury handed down a $250,000 verdict in the most recent talc cancer case.
- Traders are watching for additional talc lawsuits and have their eyes on the company’s April 14 results call.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) slipped Friday, falling $1.05 to $243.50—off about 0.4%—after a Pennsylvania jury held the company liable in a fresh talc baby powder case. The stock moved in a range from $242.69 to $244.83 during the session, as the legal headache lingered.
For a company as large as J&J, the sums here aren’t massive. Still, traders keep zeroing in on every talc verdict, taking each as a pulse check: Are juries piling on with more punitive awards, and just how tough will it be to close the book on this litigation?
A Philadelphia jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $250,000 to the family of a woman who claimed the company’s talc-based baby powder led to ovarian cancer, including $200,000 tagged as punitive damages—aimed at punishment, not compensation. J&J says its talc products are safe and is still facing more than 67,000 lawsuits tied to them. With its bankruptcy strategy to settle these cases shot down by federal courts, more trials are expected in the coming months.
J&J trailed the rest of the healthcare sector after the drop. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund climbed roughly 1.1%. SPDR S&P 500 ETF barely moved.
This week, a separate filing threw fresh attention on the company’s disclosures. J&J submitted its annual report for the year ended Dec. 28, 2025. It also put in an automatic shelf registration statement — a tool that lets big issuers like J&J offer securities as needed, rather than all at once.
J&J hasn’t shied away from a public fight over the litigation. “We will continue to aggressively fight in the court system each and every one of these meritless claims,” Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk told analysts during the company’s January earnings call. Q4 Capital
Even a small headline award can jolt sentiment—courtroom results are unpredictable, and that’s the risk. If bigger verdicts start piling up, or if the company falters on appeals, investors could push up their estimates for settlement costs. That would likely cap the stock.
Eyes are on Johnson & Johnson for any word after Friday’s verdict, plus updates on when the next talc trials might hit the docket. On the schedule: J&J’s first-quarter earnings call is set for April 14.
