Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Report shares closed down about 3% after the company reported first quarter revenue that missed analysts' expectations due to lighter than expected pharmaceutical sales.

The company reported first quarter earnings of $1.83 per share on revenue of $17.7 billion vs. Wall Street expectations of earnings of $1.77 per share on revenue of $18.04 billion. The company said U.S. pharmaceutical sales fell about 3% quarter-over-quarter to about $4.87 billion.

The results could spell a rough patch coming up for biopharmaceutical competitors Amgen (AMGN) - Get Report and Celgene (CELG) - Get Report , among others.

"While pricing power appears to remain strong, JNJ did report that lower prices in government managed care channels impacted annual comparisons" wrote Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges in a note Tuesday. "We do not anticipate that these issues will be isolated to JNJ alone, but should impact the broader biopharma industry, and they confirm our cautious stance for our coverage universe in Q1."

The brokerage pointed to other companies that have high reliance on Medicare Part B, legacy oncology, and outpatient specialty drug exposure. Leerink said of its coverage universe, which includes most of the large drug makers, Amgen and Celgene, "are the most vulnerable."

Amgen is set to report first quarter earnings on April 26 while Celgene will report April 27.

Johnson & Johnson said it saw "very little impact" from biosimilar competition to Remicade, its treatment for arthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease that is seeing increased competition from the likes of Pfizer (PFE) - Get Report , but noted that its pharma sales dipped specifically due to weakness in the U.S.

The results likely point to more successful quarters from companies that have more revenue coming in from overseas sales.

Leerink named Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) - Get Report and AbbVie (ABBV) - Get Report as companies that could be better insulated from weak U.S. pharma sales given their exposure overseas.

Johnson & Johnson also said during an earnings call Tuesday that it continues to evaluate options for its diabetes care business.

"We're evaluating various options for that business, whether it be a partnership or outright divestiture; whatever is best in terms of giving that business the best position to succeed and obviously, if we were to divest it, getting the right return for our shareholders," said chief financial officer Dominic Caruso on an earnings call Tuesday.

In January, Johnson & Johnson said it was looking at potential strategic options for the diabetes care unit, including LifeScan, Animas and Calibra Medical.

Shares of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, close down about 3.1%, or $3.90 per share, to $121.30 on Tuesday.

Editor's pick: Originally published at 3:36 pm ET.