Bristol Myers Squibb Q2 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenue Up 1%

Bristol Myers Squibb, a prominent pharmaceutical company, reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded market expectations. The company's performance was driven by strong sales of its flagship products, including the blood thinner Eliquis, and the cancer drugs Opdivo and Revlimid.

The company's revenue grew by 1% to 123 billion dollars, surpassing analysts' average expectation of 114 billion dollars. This growth was despite the loss of patent protection for some products, including Revlimid. The company's net income for the quarter was 29 billion dollars, or 1.46 dollars per share, down from 42 billion dollars, or 2.07 dollars per share, in the same period last year. However, this still exceeded analysts' expectations of 1.07 dollars per share.

The strong performance was attributed to the robust sales of Eliquis, which increased by 8% to 37 billion dollars, and Opdivo, which saw a 7% increase to 26 billion dollars. These figures surpassed analysts' average sales expectations of 33 billion dollars and 23 billion dollars, respectively. Revlimid, despite a 38% decline to 8.38 billion dollars, still outperformed analysts' expectations by approximately 3 billion dollars.

The company has been facing challenges with Revlimid, as its sales have significantly decreased from nearly 130 billion dollars in 2021 to 58 billion dollars last year due to competition from generic drugs. Other cancer drugs, such as Pomalyst, Sprycel, and Abraxane, are also facing similar issues. However, the company's chief commercialization officer noted that Revlimid's performance was better than initially anticipated, and the company now expects its sales to be around 30 billion dollars by 2025, up from the previous estimate of nearly 25 billion dollars.

Bristol Myers Squibb has raised its full-year revenue guidance from 458 billion to 468 billion dollars to 465 billion to 475 billion dollars. The company also expects full-year earnings per share, including expenses related to a development deal with a German biotechnology company, to be between 6.35 dollars and 6.65 dollars. Analysts had expected 2025 earnings per share to be around 6.24 dollars.