JNJJohnson & Johnson

After spinning off its consumer arm, Johnson & Johnson is a pharmaceuticals and medical-technology company.

The pharmaceutical half concentrates on oncology, immunology, neuroscience and infectious disease. As with any drug maker, its fortunes follow the patent cycle: key medicines carry the profit until protection lapses, and the pipeline must have a replacement ready.

The other half is medical technology: surgical equipment, orthopaedic implants, cardiology and vision devices. That business is less explosive than pharmaceuticals but also less exposed to patent cliffs — it tracks procedure volumes and hospital budgets.

A separate and long-running factor is litigation, above all the talc claims. Their resolution stretches over years and creates uncertainty in valuing the liabilities. Johnson & Johnson has raised its dividend for decades and belongs to the group of stocks bought for durability rather than pace.