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Smith+Nephew Cuts Guidance, Ends J&J Talks

Smith+Nephew has lowered its full-year profit outlook on weak US hip and knee sales and confirmed that talks with Johnson & Johnson about its Orthopaedics business have ended, leaving the board still exploring options.

Smith+Nephew (LSE: SN), a FTSE 100 constituent, has cut its full-year guidance, with trading profit growth now expected at around 4% rather than around 8%. It blamed the outlook for US hip and knee implants in the fourth quarter.

Underlying revenue growth is now seen at around 3%, down from around 4%. Trading profit is forecast at around $1.25bn rather than $1.3bn, and free cash flow at around $750m rather than $800m.

SN.LSE

We have revised our full-year guidance to reflect the slower growth in US Orthopaedics, which we expect to continue through the fourth quarter. Despite this, we remain confident in delivering profit growth ahead of revenue growth, together with strong free cash flow and cash conversion.

Deepak Nath, chief executive of Smith+Nephew

Third-quarter revenue, for the quarter ended 26 September, rose to $1,551m from $1,501m a year earlier, up 3.4% on an underlying basis and faster than in the second quarter.

Sports Medicine & ENT led with $507m, up 7.9%, helped by 11.2% growth in Joint Repair. Advanced Wound Management slipped 0.2% to $454m, as Bioactives fell 8.8% after changes to skin substitute reimbursement at the start of 2026. The company said the market was adapting more slowly than it had anticipated.

Horizontal bar chart of Smith+Nephew Q3 2026 underlying revenue growth by business unit: Sports Medicine & ENT leads at 7.9%, Orthopaedics up 2.5%, Group total up 3.4%, while Advanced Wound Management is roughly flat at -0.2%.
Smith+Nephew Q3 2026 underlying revenue growth by business unit, quarter ended 26 September versus Q3 2025. Source: Smith+Nephew.

Orthopaedics grew 2.5% to $590m, but US knee implants fell 7.3% and US hips 1.0%. The company cited business lost in earlier periods, market softness and a shift to cementless knees, and said hip sales were held back by the pace of deploying its CATALYSTEM hip system. Outside the US, knees rose 4.0% and hips 6.0%.

The company also responded to press comment about a possible combination of its Orthopaedics business with the DePuy Synthes unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). It confirmed it approached J&J earlier this year and that discussions took place, but said they have now ended. The board has considered strategic options for Orthopaedics for some months and will keep exploring them.

A $500m share buyback announced on 6 May is half done, with $250m completed by the end of the quarter. An analyst call is due at midday today, and full-year results follow on 1 March.

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