Bristol-Myers Squibb Offers Up Solid Earnings Beat and Lifts Guidance

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) released its first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The company said it had $0.74 in earnings per share (EPS) on $4.4 billion in revenue. That compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.65 in EPS on revenue of $4.25 billion. In the same period of last year, it posted EPS of $0.71 and $4.04 billion in revenue.

During this quarter, U.S. revenues increased 24% to $2.5 billion year over year. International revenues decreased 7%. When adjusted for foreign exchange impact, international revenues decreased 2%.

Earlier in April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Opdivo for the potential indication of recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck after platinum based therapy.

Separately, Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired Padlock Therapeutics, a private, Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company dedicated to creating new medicines to treat destructive autoimmune diseases.

In terms of guidance for the 2016 full year, the company increased its EPS outlook on the year to a range of $2.50 to $2.60 from the previous range of $2.30 to $2.40. The consensus estimate calls for $2.40 in EPS.
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Giovanni Caforio, M.D., CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb, commented:

We had a very good first quarter highlighted by strong sales growth and significant progress in bringing the promise of Immuno-Oncology across multiple types of cancer to patients. The launch of Opdivo continues to accelerate with data in new cancers, additional indications and continued rapid market adoption. By growing our business and advancing our pipeline, we are successfully executing our growth strategy.

On the books, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $8.0 billion, with a net cash position of $1.3 billion.

Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb closed Wednesday down 0.9% at $70.23, with a consensus analyst price target of $71.64 and a 52-week trading range of $51.82 to $71.07. Following the release of the release of the earnings report the stock was up over 2% at $71.75 in early trading indications Thursday.