By Michael Erman and Sriparna Roy
(Reuters) -Bristol Myers Squibb on Thursday said its 2025 revenue would fall more sharply than Wall Street had forecast due to generic competition for some of its older drugs, sending its share down nearly 3% in early trading.
The drugmaker also said it is expanding its cost-cutting program by an additional $2 billion by the end of 2027, bringing the total cost cuts under the program to $3.5 billion.
It expects about $1 billion of these savings to be realized this year, CEO Chris Boerner said in a call with analysts.
The company forecast 2025 revenue of about $45.5 billion, down from $48.3 billion in 2024 and below analyst expectations of $47.4 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It sees 2025 earnings in the range of $6.55 to $6.85 a share, which also came below estimates of $6.92 a share.
Bristol has already been contending with sharp revenue loss from its cancer drug Revlimid, which brought in nearly $13 billion in 2021 and just $5.8 billion last year due to generic rivals.
However, Boerner said in an interview the company will also be hurt in 2025 by the loss of exclusivity of other cancer drugs Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane.
“We’ve been very clear about our focus, which is driving sustained top-tier growth as we exit the decade, and specifically increasing the velocity of growth in the last couple of years exiting this decade and into the next,” Boerner said.
“Our focus is working on making sure that the period in which the business is declining is as short and as shallow as possible.”
Shares of Bristol Myers fell to $58.08. The stock is up around 25% over the past year, driven in part by investor enthusiasm for its new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy, which was approved by the FDA last September.
The new forecast draws attention to slower growth, forcing investors to reset expectations into the new year, said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.
The company said it earned $3.4 billion, or $1.67 per share in the fourth quarter, down from $3.5 billion, or $1.70 per share, a year ago. Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings of $1.46 a share for the quarter.
Revenue in the quarter rose 8% to $12.3 billion, topping analyst estimates of $11.6 billion.
Sales of its cancer immunotherapy Opdivo rose 4% to $2.5 billion, while Revlimid sales fell 8% to $1.3 billion. Analysts had expected sales of those drugs to be around $2.5 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively.
(Reporting by Michael Erman and Sriparna Roy; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Devika Syamnath and Franklin Paul)
