Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is scheduled to release its second quarter earnings before the opening bell on Thursday, July 22, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 53 cents per share on revenue of $4.86 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 49 cents per share on revenue of $5.38 billion.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a global biopharmaceutical company, engages in discovering, developing, and delivering medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.
In the preceding first quarter, the New York-based company's net income rose to $743 million, or 43 cents per share, from $638 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted income climbed to $967 million, or 56 cents per share, from $829 million, or 42 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue grew to $4.807 billion from $4.322 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn 51 cents per share on revenue of $4.74 billion. Gross margin decreased to 72.8% from 73.0% while operating margin improved to 30.8% from 25.5%.
In April, the drug maker reduced its 2010 earnings guidance by $0.05 per share on either end of the range to reflect the potential impact of U.S. health care reform. The company anticipates the health care reform to negatively impact its earnings by about $0.12 a share. However, the company said that the strength of its underlying business and mitigating actions will enable it to absorb about half of the health care reform impact this year. The company lowered its non-GAAP earnings per share guidance to a range of $2.10 to $2.20, compared to its prior outlook in the range of $2.15 to $2.25. The GAAP earnings per share projection was lowered to $1.84-$1.94 from $1.94 to $2.04 to reflect higher manufacturing rationalization costs and a licensing transaction, in addition to health care reform impact. The company also expects health care reform to result in a negative impact of $350 million to $400 million in net sales.
Like other major drugmakers, Bristol-Myers Squibb is facing a looming patent cliff- when some of its top selling drugs will lose patent protection and become exposed to stiff generic competition. The company will lose patent protection on its blockbuster drugs, Plavix in November 2011, and Avapro in March 2012. Plavix , the world's second-biggest selling medicine, raked in $6.1 billion in sales for Bristol-Myers Squibb last year- nearly a third of its total revenue. Market exclusivity for SUSTIVA is expected to expire in 2013 while the patent for Abilify currently expires in April 2015. The company said in March that due to impending patent expiry of several drugs, its profits will decline to $1.95 a share in 2013, down from its 2010 profit forecast of $2.10 to $2.20 per share, excluding items.
Last month, Bristol-Myers Squibb and its partner Pfizer announced that they had halted a late-stage study of an experimental anticlotting drug, apixaban, after it met its efficacy targets ahead of schedule. Late in June, the drugmaker said that a late-stage clinical trial showed that its diabetes drug dapagliflozin was more effective than placebo. In May, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced that its experimental cancer drug ipilimumab drug significantly improved survival in patients suffering from advanced melanoma. Bristol-Myers Squibb expects to get regulatory approval to sell ipilimumab by the end of the year.
Among other developments Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in May said that its board has authorized the repurchase of up to $3 billion of its common stock. The company said that stock repurchase program does not have an expiration date and is expected to take place over the next few years.
In terms of share performance, shares of the company are down nearly 2.5% since the beginning of the year.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
