Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Ups Forecast As Q1 Earnings Beat The Street

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) early Thursday posted much better than expected first quarter earnings results and lifted its full-year outlook, as sales of several of its new drugs begin to skyrocket.

Written by StockNews.com

The New York City-based pharmaceutical giant reported Q1:

earnings per share (EPS) of $0.84, which was $0.10 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.74,

revenues rose 12.3% from last year to $4.93 billion, also beating analysts’ view for $4.75 billion.

BMY noted that its big revenue uptick in the latest period was primarily driven by product growth in the following drugs:

Opdivo – up 60%

Eliquis – up 50%

Yervoy – up 25%

Sprycel – up 14%

Orencia – up 13%

Looking ahead Bristol-Myers issued upside guidance for 2017.

The company expects full-year EPS of $2.85 to $3.00, well above the $2.80 that analysts are looking for, and up from a prior outlook of $2.70 to $2.90.

It also sees global revenues rising in the mid-single digits.

Said Giovanni Caforio, M.D., chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb:

“During the first quarter we delivered strong sales and earnings growth, achieved important regulatory milestones for Opdivo in the U.S. and Europe and presented important new data across our Immuno-Oncology and fibrosis portfolios.

Building on this strong start to the year, we will continue to drive commercial performance in the short-term while advancing important opportunities to broaden our approach in Immuno-Oncology and progressing our early specialty portfolio.”

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co shares rose $1.23 (+2.29%) in premarket trading Thursday. Year-to-date, BMY has declined -6.71%, versus a 7.12% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

BMY currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of C (Neutral), and is ranked #43 of 135 stocks in the Medical – Pharmaceuticals category.