Bristol Myers Q4 earnings sag on lower Revlimid sales

Bristol Myers Q 4 earnings sag on lower Revlimid sales Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Bristol Myers Squibb logo in this illustration.

Bristol Myers Squibb said on Thursday its fourth quarter sales and earnings had fallen, hurt by lower sales of its blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid, as it faced competition from generic versions in the United States.

Sales in the quarter fell to $11.41 billion from $11.99 billion a year ago. Revlimid sales, which began in the United States earlier in the year, fell 32% to $2.26 billion from $3.33 billion a year ago.

Sales were better than analysts who had predicted a drop in Revlimid sales. According to Refinitiv data, analysts had predicted $11.2 billion in fourth quarter sales, including $1.89 billion from Revlimid.

Sales of Bristol Myers had risen 3% in 2022, excluding foreign exchange effects, according to David Elkins, Bristol Myers Chief Financial Officer.

This year was the first year of generic competition for Revlimid and everyone wanted to see if we could grow through the year. In an interview, Elkins said, "We did that."

The drugmaker sold $2.69 billion of its blood thinner Eliquis and $2.22 billion of cancer immunotherapy Opdivo in the quarter, up 1% and 11% over a year earlier in the year.

The company said it had earned $1.82 per share in the quarter, down from $1.84 a share last year. On average, analysts had predicted that the company would earn $1.72 per share.

Bristol Myers said it expected to earn $7.95 to $8.25 a share in 2023 on revenue it expects to increase by around 2% from 2022 sales of $46.16 billion. The analysts had predicted earnings of $7.99 a share on sales of $47.15 billion in the year 2023.

Revlimid sales were expected to fall to $6.5 billion, from $9.98 billion last year, slightly less than analyst forecasts.