The Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Center at Cambridge Crossing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on Wednesday, December 27, 2023.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bristol Myers Squibb On Thursday, third-quarter earnings and revenue were reported that beat Wall Street expectations thanks to the blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and a portfolio of drugs that the company expects will deliver long-term growth.
The pharmaceutical giant has also raised its full-year revenue guidance and expects sales to rise by around 5%. Bristol Myers previously said it expected sales to rise in the “upper end” of the low single-digit range.
The company also raised its 2024 adjusted earnings forecast to 75 to 95 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of 60 to 90 cents per share.
The results come as Bristol Myers works to cut $1.5 billion in costs by the end of 2025 and direct that money to key drug brands and research and development programs. The company said in April that this would include laying off more than 2,000 employees, cutting some drug programs and consolidating its facilities.
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, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.80 adjusted versus $1.49 expected
- Gain: $11.89 billion versus $11.28 billion expected
Bristol Myers posted third-quarter net income of $1.21 billion, or 60 cents per share. That compares with net income of $1.93 billion, or 93 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.80 for the quarter.
The pharmaceutical giant's revenue rose 8% from the same period a year ago to $11.89 billion.
The increase came from Eliquis and the company's so-called “Growth Portfolio” of drugs, including a cancer drug called Opdivo. But sales were partially offset by leukemia treatment Sprycel, which faces generic competition due to the loss of exclusivity.
The company is preparing to offset the loss of revenue from its best-selling treatments that will lose their market exclusivity, including Eliquis, Opdivo and Revlimid, a blood cancer treatment.
Eliquis sales could also take a hit in 2026, when a new price for the drug goes into effect for certain Medicare patients after negotiations with the federal government. The first round of those price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, ended in the summer.
Notably, the Food and Drug Administration approved Bristol Myers Squibb's long-awaited schizophrenia drug Cobenfy during the quarter. It is the first new type of treatment for the debilitating, chronic mental disorder in more than seventy years.
Eliquis, new drugs after growth
Eliquis posted revenue of $3 billion this quarter, up 11% from the same period last year. That was more than the $2.84 billion analysts expected, according to StreetAccount estimates.
The blood thinner Bristol Myers shares with Pfizeris expected to lose its market exclusivity in 2028.
Revlimid generated revenue of $1.41 billion, down 1% from the same period a year ago. That exceeded analysts' revenue expectations of $1.11 billion for the treatment, according to StreetAccount.
Revenue from the company's growth portfolio reached $5.8 billion in the third quarter, up 18% from the same period last year.
That was driven in part by higher demand for anemia drug Reblozyl, which grossed $447 million in the third quarter, up 80% from the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the treatment to generate $435 million in revenue.
Advanced melanoma treatment Opdualag, lymphoma treatment Breyanzi and Camzyos, a drug for certain heart conditions, also contributed to growth portfolio sales in the third quarter, according to the company.
Breyanzi and Camzyos posted revenue above analyst expectations, while Opdualag fell below expectations, according to StreetAccount.
Opdivo generated revenue of $2.36 billion in the third quarter, up 4% from the same period a year earlier. That fell below analysts' estimate of $2.41 billion for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.
Meanwhile, Abecma, a cell therapy for a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma, posted sales of $124 million this quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $110 million.