Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) earnings Q2 2024

Bristol Myers Squibb on Friday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations and raised its full-year guidance because the drugmaker moves to slash costs.

The pharmaceutical giant raised its full-year revenue forecast to a rise within the “upper end” of the low single-digit range. That compares with its previous guidance in April of a low single-digit increase in sales. 

The corporate also raised its 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to 60 cents to 90 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of 40 cents to 70 cents per share. 

Shares of Bristol Myers rose nearly 8% on Friday.

The outcomes come as Bristol Myers moves to chop $1.5 billion in costs by 2025 and reinvest that cash into key drug brands and research and development programs. In April, the corporate said that can involve shedding greater than 2,000 employees, culling some drug programs and consolidating its sites, amongst other efforts. 

Here’s what Bristol Myers reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

• Earnings per share: $2.07 adjusted vs. lack of $1.63 expected
• Revenue: $12.2 billion vs. $11.55 billion expected 

The pharmaceutical giant’s revenue rose 9% from the identical period a 12 months ago to $12.2 billion. 

Bristol Myers posted net income of $1.68 billion, or 83 cents per share, for the second quarter. That compares with net income of $2.07 billion, or 99 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. 

Excluding certain items, its adjusted earnings per share was $2.07 for the quarter. 

The second-quarter sales increase got here primarily from the corporate’s blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and a portfolio of medicine it expects to assist it deliver long-term growth. Amongst those treatments is the cancer drug Opdivo, which raked in higher-than-expected sales for the quarter. 

Revenue from Bristol Myers’ blood cancer drug Revlimid also topped analysts’ estimates for the period despite facing competition from cheaper generics. 

The corporate faces pressure to launch latest drugs and offset the lack of revenue from Revlimid and other top-selling treatments that can eventually lose exclusivity available on the market, including Eliquis and Opdivo. 

Sales of Eliquis could also take a success in 2026, when a latest price for the drug goes into effect for certain Medicare patients following negotiations with the federal government. Those price talks, a key provision of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, will end initially of August.

Eliquis booked $3.42 billion in sales for the quarter, up 7% from the year-ago period. That was in step with analysts’ expectations for the drug, based on estimates compiled by FactSet.

The blood thinner, which Bristol Myers shares with Pfizer, is predicted to lose market exclusivity by 2028.