** Brokerage Leerink Partners upgrades healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N to "outperform" from "market perform" and raises PT to $265 from $252

** New PT implies an 18% upside to the stock's last close

** Leerink says J&J's newer products can drive faster revenue growth over the next several years, especially in pharmaceuticals

** "Our thesis is that strong new drug momentum will drive accelerating revenue growth and stock outperformance" - Leerink Partners

** Leerink points out the company's key drivers, including recently approved oral psoriasis drug Icotyde, bladder cancer drug Inlexo, lung cancer drug Rybrevant and Crohn's disease drug Tremfya

** Leerink raises its sales forecasts for Icotyde and now expects 2026 sales of $405 million and 2032 sales of $10.5 billion

** Leerink notes that investors will be watching several J&J drug updates this year, including longer-term psoriasis data for Icotyde and bladder cancer data for Inlexo in the second half of 2026

** The brokerage also points to multiple myeloma data for Talvey combinations with Darzalex and/or Pomalyst, also expected in the second half

** As of last close, JNJ stock was up ~8.4% YTD