Bristol Myers Squibb’s research and development center at Cambridge Crossing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 27, 2023.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg |
Bristol-Myers Squibb reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue on Friday and raised its full-year forecast because the pharmaceutical company takes steps to chop costs.
The pharmaceutical giant raised its full-year sales forecast to a rise within the “upper end” of the low single-digit range. This compares with a low-single-digit sales increase forecast in April.
The company also raised its adjusted earnings forecast for 2024 to 60 cents to 90 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of 40 cents to 70 cents per share.
Following the discharge of the outcomes, Bristol Myers shares rose nearly 5% in premarket trading on Friday.
The results come as Bristol Myers plans to chop $1.5 billion in costs by 2025 and reinvest that cash in key drug brands and research and development programs. In April, the corporate said that this may involve shedding greater than 2,000 employees, eliminating some drug programs and consolidating its sites, amongst other measures.
Here’s what Bristol Myers reported for the second quarter in comparison with Wall Street expectations, based on an LSEG analyst survey:
- Earnings per share: $2.07 adjusted versus an expected lack of $1.63
- Revenue: $12.2 billion in comparison with expected $11.55 billion
The pharmaceutical giant’s sales rose 9% to $12.2 billion in comparison with the identical period last yr.
Bristol Myers reported net income of $1.68 billion, or 83 cents per share, within the second quarter. In the year-ago period, net income was $2.07 billion, or 99 cents per share.
Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $2.07.
The increase in sales within the second quarter was mainly resulting from the successful blood thinner Eliquis and a portfolio of medicine that the corporate expects to generate long-term growth. These drugs include the cancer drug Opdivo, whose sales were higher than expected within the quarter.
Revenue from Bristol Myers’ blood cancer drug Revlimid also exceeded analysts’ estimates for the period, despite competition from cheaper generics.
The pharmaceutical company is under pressure to bring recent drugs to market and offset the lack of sales of Revlimid and other top-selling drugs that may ultimately lose market exclusivity, including Eliquis and Opdivo.
Eliquis sales could also suffer a setback in 2026, when a brand new price for the drug for certain Medicare patients takes effect after negotiations with the federal government. Those price negotiations, a key provision of President Joe Biden’s inflation-fighting bill, will end in early August.
New drug portfolio, Eliquis records growth
Eliquis posted revenue of $3.42 billion within the quarter, up 7 percent from the identical period last yr, consistent with analysts’ expectations for the drug, in response to estimates from FactSet.
The blood thinner that Bristol Myers shares with Pfizer is predicted to lose its market exclusivity by 2028.
Revlimid posted sales of $1.35 billion, down 8 percent from the identical period last yr resulting from generic competition. Still, that figure exceeded analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion for the drug, in response to FactSet.
Sales from the corporate’s so-called “growth portfolio” were driven primarily by higher demand for Opdivo, which generated sales of $2.39 billion within the quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected that drug to generate sales of $2.29 billion.
Anemia drug Reblozyl, advanced melanoma drug Opdualag and Camzyos, a drug for a certain heart condition, also contributed to the expansion portfolio’s second-quarter sales. All three drugs posted sales that beat analysts’ expectations, in response to estimates from FactSet.
Meanwhile, Abecma, a cell therapy for the rare blood cancer multiple myeloma, posted sales of $95 million within the quarter. Analysts had expected sales of $95.8 million.
