Bristol Myers Squibb plans $2 billion in cost cuts by 2027, issues weak guidance

Bristol Myers Squibb on Thursday said it will slash $2 billion in costs by the end of 2027, expanding its ongoing cost savings effort to chart a path toward long-term growth. 

Bristol Myers said savings will be driven by organizational changes and efforts to streamline operations and will allow the company to invest in new science and drug brands expected to deliver growth. 

The pharmaceutical giant still plans to cut $1.5 billion in costs by the end of 2025 and funnel that money into drug development. It first announced those cuts in April, and expanded on them with Thursday’s announcement.

The company is preparing to offset the loss in revenue from top-selling treatments slated to lose exclusivity on the market, including its blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis and cancer immunotherapy Opdivo. 

Also on Thursday, Bristol Myers Squibb issued full-year 2025 guidance that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as some of the company’s older drugs face competition from cheaper generics. That includes four drugs for different cancers: Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane. 

Bristol Myers expects revenue to come in around $45.5 billion, which is below the $47.36 billion that analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting. 

The company’s revenue guidance also reflects an approximately $500 million expected negative impact from foreign exchange.

The drugmaker expects adjusted earnings per share of between $6.55 to $6.85. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected adjusted earnings of $6.92 per share. 

Despite that outlook, Bristol Myers reported fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that blew past expectations, boosted by Eliquis and the company’s so-called “growth portfolio” of drugs. 

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

• Earnings per share: $1.67 adjusted vs. $1.46 expected
• Revenue: $12.34 billion vs. $11.57 billion expected 

Bristol Myers posted net income of $72 million, or 4 cents per share, for the fourth quarter. That compares with net income of $1.8 billion, or 87 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. 

Excluding certain items, it reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.67 for the quarter. 

The pharmaceutical giant’s revenue rose 8% from the same period a year ago to $12.34 billion. 

Eliquis booked $3.2 billion in sales for the quarter, up 11% from the year-ago period. That is above the $3.03 billion that analysts were expecting, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.

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

Sales of Eliquis could also take a hit in 2026, when a new negotiated price for the drug goes into effect for certain Medicare patients following negotiations with the federal government. Those price talks are a key provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The second round of negotiations targets 15 additional drugs and will set new prices that will go into effect in 2028. That includes Pomalyst, which is used to treat a blood cancer called multiple myeloma and a cancer that develops in people with HIV.

Pomalyst brought in $823 million for the period, down 8% from the year-earlier period. Sprycel booked $198 million in sales for the quarter, down 62% from the same period a year ago. Abraxane generated $174 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, down 30% from the same quarter in 2023. 

Revlimid took in $1.34 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, down 8% from the same period a year ago. That surpassed analysts’ revenue expectations of $1.10 billion for the treatment, according to StreetAccount. 

Revenue from the company’s Growth Portfolio was $6.36 billion for the fourth quarter, up 21% from the year-earlier period. 

Opdivo brought in $2.48 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, up 4% from the year-earlier period. That fell under analysts’ estimate of $2.51 billion for the quarter, StreetAccount said.