Bristol-Myers Squibb drops on surprise third quarter profits miss

Shares in Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) slipped in pre-market trade on Thursday after the pharmaceutical giant’s third quarter profits missed expectations, despite revenues coming ahead of Wall Street forecasts.

The New York-based group, which has a market cap in excess of US$100bn, saw revenues rise to US$5.25bn (Q3 2016: US$4.92bn) in the three months ended September 30, ahead of the US$5.19bn expected by analysts.

Bristol couldn’t translate the top-line beat into higher profits, which instead slumped to US$845mln or 51 cents per share from US$1.20bn or 72 cents a share in the year-earlier period.

Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was 75 cents, below the consensus forecast of 77 cents.

Strong sales of BMY’s Opdivo and Empliciti cancer drugs couldn’t offset poor performance from a host of others, including skin cancer treatment Yervoy, Eliquis deep vein thrombosis pills and rheumatoid arthritis drug Orencia.

As for its full-year outlook, Bristol decreased its EPS guidance to between US$2.36 and US$2.46 (from US$2.66 to US$2.76), although it did increase its adjusted EPS guidance to US$2.95 to US$3.05 (from US$2.90 to US$3.00).

Dr Giovanni Caforio, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Looking forward, our focus is on continuing to deliver strong commercial performance, advance our pipeline and ensure our resources are applied to priority areas of our portfolio for sustainable, long-term growth.”

Shares were down 1.6% to US$63 in pre-market trade.

Story by ProactiveInvestors