On December 27, 2023, Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development Center in Cambridge Crossing, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bristol-Myers Squibb Second-quarter earnings and revenue reported on Friday topped expectations and raised full-year guidance as the drugmaker pivots to cost cutting.
The pharmaceutical giant raised its full-year revenue forecast to the “high end” of the low-single-digit range. By comparison, its April sales guidance was for low-single-digit growth.
The company also raised its 2024 adjusted profit guidance to 60 cents to 90 cents per share, up from its previous forecast of 40 cents to 70 cents per share.
Shares of Bristol Myers rose nearly 8% on Friday.
As Bristol Myers moves to Cut costs by $1.5 billion by 2025 and reinvest these funds in major pharmaceutical brands and R&D projects. In April, the company said it would lay off more than 2,000 employees, cancel some drug projects, consolidate its website, and more.
Here’s how Bristol-Myers Squibb’s second-quarter report compared with Wall Street expectations, according to a survey of analysts by London Stock Exchange Group:
- Earnings per share: Adjusted $2.07, estimated loss $1.63
- income: US$12.2 billion, expected US$11.55 billion
The pharmaceutical giant’s revenue rose 9% from the same period last year to $12.2 billion.
Bristol-Myers Squibb reported second-quarter net profit of $1.68 billion, or 83 cents per share. This compares with net income of $2.07 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $2.07.
Second-quarter sales growth largely came from the company’s blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and a portfolio of drugs expected to help it achieve long-term growth. Those treatments include cancer drug Opdivo, which posted higher-than-expected sales this quarter.
Revenue from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s blood cancer drug Revlimid also beat analysts’ expectations despite facing competition from cheaper generics.
The company is under pressure to launch new drugs and offset lost revenue from lenalidomide (Revlimid) and other blockbuster treatments that will eventually lose market exclusivityincluding Eliquis and Opdivo.
Eliquis sales could also take a hit in 2026, when the drug’s new price goes into effect for some Medicare patients negotiation with the federal government. These price negotiations are an important provision of the President’s Joe BidenThe inflation-cutting bill ends in early August.
New drug combination, growth after Eliquis
Eliquis sales for the quarter were $3.42 billion, an increase of 7% over the same period last year. That was in line with analysts’ expectations for the drug, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
Blood thinner shared by Bristol-Myers Squibb Pfizeris expected to lose market exclusivity by 2028.
Sales of lenalidomide (Revlimid) were $1.35 billion, down 8% from the same period last year due to generic competition. Still, it beat analysts’ revenue expectations for the therapy of $1.09 billion, according to FactSet.
Revenue from the company’s so-called growth portfolio was primarily driven by increased demand for Opdivo, which had sales of $2.39 billion in the quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the treatment to bring in $2.29 billion in revenue.
Anemia drug Reblozyl, advanced melanoma treatment Opdualag and drug Camzyos, which treats a certain type of heart disease, also helped drive growth portfolio revenue in the second quarter. Sales of all three drugs were higher than analysts expected, according to FactSet estimates.
Meanwhile, Abecma, a cell therapy that treats the rare blood cancer multiple myeloma, had sales of $95 million in the quarter. Analysts had expected revenue of $95.8 million.
