A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY Quick QuoteBMY - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 1.7% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Bristol Myers due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

Bristol-Myers'Q2 Earnings Beat, Opdivo Sales Grow

Bristol-Myers' second-quarter 2021 earnings of $1.93 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.88 and increased from the year-ago quarter’s $1.63.

Total revenues of $11.7 billion also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.2 billion and increased 16% from the year-ago period.

Quarterly Details

Revenues increased 14% to $7.4 billion in the United States and 18% outside the country. Ex-U.S. revenues were up 10% when adjusted for foreign exchange impact.

Myeloma drug, Revlimid, along with the erstwhile Celgene acquisition, contributed $3.2 billion to the top line and was the top revenue generator for Bristol-Myers. Sales were up 11% for the drug year over year.

Eliquis maintained momentum for the company as sales increased 29% to $2.8 billion.

Sales of immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo, approved for multiple cancer indications, were up 16% year over year to $1.9 billion. Sales returned to growth after declining in the first quarter. Label expansion of the drug in the lucrative indication of lung cancer has boosted sales.

Sales of rheumatoid arthritis drug, Orencia, were up 9% to $814 million.
Another MM drug, Pomalyst posted a strong performance and generated sales of $854 million, up 15% year over year.

Leukemia drug, Sprycel, raked in sales of $541 million, up 6% year over year. Melanoma drug, Yervoy, contributed $510 million to the top line, up 38%.

Abraxane generated sales of $296 million, down 4% year over year.
MM drug, Empliciti, recorded sales of $86 million, down 11% year over year.

New drugs like Reblozyl generated sales of $128 million, while Inrebic generated sales of $16 million. Onureg sales came in at $12 million and Zeposia sales came in at $28 million.  CAR T cell therapies Breyanzi sales came in at $17 million and Abecma sales totaled $24 million.

Adjusted research and development (R&D) expenses in the quarter were $2.3 billion, up 4%. Adjusted marketing, selling and administrative expenses increased to $1.9 billion from $1.6 billion. Gross margin increased to 79% from 73.4% in the quarter.

2021 Guidance Reiterated

Bristol-Myers projects 2021 earnings of $7.35-$7.55 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $7.45 per share.

Key Pipeline Updates

In May, the FDA approved Opdivo for the adjuvant treatment of completely resected esophageal cancer or GEJC with residual pathologic disease in patients who have received neoadjuvant CRT.

The FDA also approved Zeposia (ozanimod) for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

In June, the company announced that the CHMP of the EMA has recommended granting a Conditional Marketing Authorization to Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior therapies.

In June, Bristol-Myers entered an exclusive global strategic collaboration agreement with Eisai for the co-development and co-commercialization of MORAb-202, an antibody drug conjugate.

In May, the company entered into an agreement with Agenus, whereby Bristol-Myers will be granted a global exclusive license to Agenus’ proprietary bispecific antibody program, AGEN1777, which blocks TIGIT and a second undisclosed target.


 

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, estimates review have trended downward during the past month.

VGM Scores

At this time, Bristol Myers has a great Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with a B. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Bristol Myers has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.