Bristol-Myers: 2015 Forecasts Estimate a Drop in Revenue

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By Jacob Maslow

bms301Analysts forecasted that drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) would reach $15.6 billion in 2015 sales. A company statement has projected over a billion dollars lower. Revenue is expected to be between $14.4 billion and $15 billion for the year.

Bristol-Myers stated that the company’s earnings will be between $1.55 and $1.70 per share. Analysts pegged the company’s share profits to be $1.73 on the year.

The company has saw strong growth in the U.S. market, but this is not enough to offset sales outside of the U.S.

Foreign exchange effects are to blame for the wide gap between company and outside analyst estimates on the year.

The company’s sales of Yervoy and Eliquis rose greatly in the last quarter. Yervoy sales grew by 41% to $366 million, Eliquis, a blood thinner, saw revenue skyrocket to $281 million.

Forecasts for the company’s future sales are bright. The company is slated to introduce a new cancer-related drug called Opdivo. The drug is estimated to hit $3 billion in sales by 2017 based off of initial projections.

Company stock prices dropped by 2.17% to $61.10 per share after the news broke.

Introducing new drugs into the company’s portfolio is expected to help the decline of signature drug Abilify. Abilify is the company’s biggest seller and saw sales drop by 25% in the fourth quarter of 2014. The company expects the drug’s revenue to drop by $577 million in 2015.

Despite sales dropping by over 4% in the fourth quarter, the company still beat projections of $4 billion dollars, with revenues hitting $4.26 billion. Foreign exchange was a major cause of the sales drop in the fourth quarter.

Bristol-Myers’s addition of Opdivo and an injection of stimulus into the European markets should help the company bolster revenue in 2016 as foreign markets begin to stabilize.

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