Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development Center at Cambridge Crossing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Wednesday, December 27, 2023.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bristol Myers Squibb On Thursday, it reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street expectations thanks to blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and a group of drugs it expects to deliver long-term growth.
The pharmaceutical giant also raised its full-year revenue guidance for this year, expecting sales to increase by more than 5%. Bristol-Myers previously said it expects sales to rise at the “high end” of the low-single-digit range.
The company also raised its 2024 revised earnings guidance to 75 cents to 95 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of 60 cents to 90 cents per share.
The results come as Bristol-Myers moves to cut costs by $1.5 billion by 2025 and direct that money to key drug brands and research and development programs. That would include laying off more than 2,000 employees, eliminating some drug programs and consolidating its locations, among other efforts, the company said in April.
Here's what Bristol-Myers reported for the third quarter compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts conducted by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.80 adjusted vs. $1.49 expected Revenue: $11.89 billion vs. $11.28 billion expected
Bristol-Myers reported net income of $1.21 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the third quarter. This compares to 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 rose 8% from 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 a cancer drug called Opdivo. But revenues were partially offset by leukemia treatment Sprycel, which faces generic competition due to its loss of exclusivity.
The company is preparing to offset the loss of revenue from top-selling treatments that are set to lose market exclusivity, including Eliquis, Opdivo and Revlimid, a blood cancer treatment.
Sales of Eliquis could also be affected in 2026, when the drug's new price goes into effect for some Medicare patients after negotiations with the federal government. The first round of price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden's inflation-reduction law, concluded in the summer.
Notably, the FDA approved Bristol-Myers Squibb's prospective schizophrenia drug Cobinfi during the quarter. It is the first new type of treatment for a chronic, debilitating mental disorder in more than seven decades.
Eliquis, new post-growth medicines
Eliquis reported sales of $3 billion for the quarter, up 11% from the same period last year. That was higher than the $2.84 billion that analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.
Blood thinner that Bristol-Myers partners with PfizerIt is expected to lose its market exclusivity by 2028.
Revlimid achieved sales of $1.41 billion, down 1% from the same period last year. That beat analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion in revenue for the treatment, according to StreetAccount.
The company's growth portfolio revenue was $5.8 billion for the third quarter, up 18% from the same period last year.
This is partly due to high demand for anemia drug Reblozil, which generated $447 million in the third quarter, up 80% from the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected the treatment to generate $435 million in revenue.
Advanced melanoma treatment Opdualag, lymphoma treatment Breyanzi, and Camzyos, a drug to treat certain heart conditions, also helped drive growth portfolio revenue during the third quarter, according to the company.
Breyanzi and Camzyos posted sales above analysts' expectations, while Opdualag fell short of estimates, according to StreetAccount.
Opdivo generated revenue of $2.36 billion for the third quarter, up 4% from the same period a year earlier. That's below analysts' estimates of $2.41 billion for the quarter, StreetAccount said.
Meanwhile, Abecma, a cell therapy for a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma, had sales of $124 million during the quarter. Analysts were expecting revenue of $110 million.
