The Bristol Myers Squibb research and development center at Cambridge Crossing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on Wednesday, December 27, 2023.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | fake images
Bristol-Myers Squibb On Thursday it reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations thanks to its blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and a portfolio of drugs it expects to deliver long-term growth.
The pharmaceutical giant also raised its full-year revenue forecast, expecting sales to increase around 5%. Bristol Myers previously said it projected sales would rise at the “high end” of the low single-digit range.
The company also raised its 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to between 75 cents and 95 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of between 60 cents and 90 cents per share.
The results come as Bristol Myers takes steps to cut $1.5 billion in costs by the end of 2025 and funnel that money into key drug brands and research and development programs. In April, the company said that would involve laying off more than 2,000 employees, eliminating some drug programs and consolidating its sites, among other efforts.
The company's shares rose more than 4% on Thursday.
Here's what Bristol Myers reported for the third quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.80 adjusted vs. $1.49 expected
- Revenue: $11.89 billion vs. $11.28 billion expected
Bristol Myers posted net income of $1.21 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the third quarter. That compares with net income of $1.93 billion, or 93 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, it reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.80 for the quarter.
The pharmaceutical giant's revenue increased 8% compared to the same period last year, to $11.89 billion.
The increase came from Eliquis and the company's so-called Growth Portfolio of drugs, which includes an anti-cancer drug called Opdivo. But revenue was partially offset by leukemia treatment Sprycel, which faces generic competition due to its loss of exclusivity.
The company is preparing to offset lost revenue from top-selling treatments that will lose market exclusivity, including Eliquis, Opdivo and Revlimid, a blood cancer treatment.
Eliquis sales could also be affected in 2026, when a new price for the drug for certain Medicare patients takes effect following negotiations with the federal government. The first round of those price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, concluded in the summer.
Notably, the Food and Drug Administration approved Cobenfy, Bristol Myers Squibb's highly anticipated schizophrenia drug, during the quarter. It is the first novel type of treatment for this chronic and debilitating mental disorder in more than seven decades.
Eliquis, new post-growth medications
Eliquis posted $3 billion in sales for the quarter, up 11% from the same period last year. That was above the $2.84 billion analysts were expecting, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.
The anticoagulant that Bristol Myers shares PfizerIt is expected to lose exclusivity in the market by 2028.
Revlimid achieved $1.41 billion in sales, down 1% from the same period last year. That beat analysts' revenue expectations of $1.11 billion for the treatment, according to StreetAccount.
Revenue from the company's growth portfolio was $5.8 billion during the third quarter, up 18% from the same period last year.
This was partly due to increased demand for the anemia drug Reblozyl, which grossed $447 million in the third quarter, up 80% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected that treatment to generate $435 million in revenue.
Advanced melanoma treatment Opdualag, lymphoma treatment Breyanzi and Camzyos, a drug for certain heart conditions, also helped drive Growth Portfolio revenue during the third quarter, according to the company.
Breyanzi and Camzyos posted sales above analyst expectations, while Opdualag missed estimates, according to StreetAccount.
Opdivo generated $2.36 billion in revenue during the third quarter, up 4% from the same period last year. That was below analysts' estimate of $2.41 billion for the quarter, StreetAccount said.
Meanwhile, Abecma, a cell therapy for a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma, earned $124 million in sales during the quarter. Analysts had expected revenue of $110 million.
