Bristol Myers Squibb topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations on Friday, but BMY stock yo-yoed, falling back from strong premarket gains.
There were puts and takes across the board for the pharmaceutical giant. Sales of cancer drug Pomalyst beat projections, while revenue from blood thinner Eliquis came in line. Yervoy, an immuno-oncology drug, fell short of sales estimates. Opdivo, another cancer drug, beat some views but missed others.
But Reblozyl, an anemia treatment, offered some unexpected strength.
Reblozyl treats anemia in patients with a blood disease called beta thalassemia, or a group of blood cancers known as myelodysplastic syndromes. In December, Bristol Myers said more than six in 10 patients who received Reblozyl in a study called Commands no longer needed transfusions after 12 weeks.
The sales strength suggests "results of the Commands study have begun to have a meaningful impact on the growth trajectory following (Food and Drug Administration) approval at the end of August," William Blair analyst Matt Phipps said in a report.
But in morning trades on today's stock market, BMY stock rose a fraction to 48.95. That reverses a three-day downtrend.
BMY Stock: Overall Sales, Earnings Beat
Overall, Bristol Myers Squibb earned $1.70 per share, on an adjusted basis, and reported $11.48 billion in sales. Earnings fell 7% year over year while sales crept 1% higher.
Both measures beat BMY stock analysts' expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet called for the company to earn an adjusted $1.55 a share and report $11.19 billion in sales. But Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger noted Bristol Myers rode financial items to its earnings upside.
Among Bristol Myers' biggest drugs, cancer treatment Revlimid brought in $1.45 billion in sales, diving 36% year over year. Revlimid is facing generic competition, but beat expectations for $1.3 billion in sales, William Blair's Phipps said.
Eliquis sales were in line at $2.87 billion, up 7%, while Pomalyst sales topped views at $890 million. Opdivo sales straddled expectations, beating some and missing others at $2.39 billion. Sales of Opdivo climbed 8% as Pomalyst revenue eked out a 1% gain. Yervoy sales, on the other hand, were flat at $566 million and missed expectations by 4%, Leerink's Risinger said.
Risinger kept his market perform rating on BMY stock.
Earnings Guidance Comes In Strong
Bristol Myers also issued guidance for 2024. The company expects adjusted earnings of $7.10 to $7.40 per share and a low single-digit percentage increase in sales.
Analysts covering BMY stock projected adjusted earnings of $7.02 per share and $45.67 billion in sales.
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