BMY Rallies 17.3% in Six Months: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?

Bristol Myers Squibb Company BMY has delivered a solid performance in recent months. The biotech major’s shares have gained 17.3% over the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 23.4%.

Although BMY has lagged the biotech industry during this period, it has outperformed both the sector and the S&P 500. The uptrend strengthened after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Oct. 30, supported by robust demand for Opdivo, Breyanzi, Reblozyl and Camzyos. Reflecting this momentum, BMY also raised its revenue guidance.

The recent rally has helped the stock reclaim lost ground, restoring some confidence among cautious investors. Against this backdrop, let us examine BMY’s fundamentals to assess whether the stock represents a prudent investment choice.

BMY Outperforms Sector & S&P 500 Index 

BMY’s Growth Portfolio Reignites Top-Line Growth

BMY’s Growth Portfolio includes key brands, such as Opdivo, Opdivo Qvantig, Orencia, Yervoy, Reblozyl, Camzyos, Breyanzi, Opdualag, Zeposia, Abecma, Sotyktu, Krazati and Cobenfy. Recent performance across this portfolio has been strong, supporting sustained top-line growth for the company.

In the United States, Opdivo sales are being driven by a successful launch in MSI-high colorectal cancer and continued momentum in first-line non-small cell lung cancer. Internationally, growth is supported by ongoing label expansions across multiple markets.

The approval of Opdivo Qvantig (nivolumab and hyaluronidase-nvhy) for subcutaneous administration has further strengthened BMY’s immuno-oncology franchise, with initial uptake proving robust across all approved tumor types in the United States.

Reflecting this momentum, Bristol Myers now expects global Opdivo sales, including Qvantig, to grow in the high single-digit to low double-digit range in 2025 — an upward revision from its prior mid- to high-single-digit growth outlook — driven by strong year-to-date performance.

Reblozyl, the thalassemia drug co-developed with Merck MRK, continues to be a major growth driver, with annualized sales now exceeding $2 billion. Revenue growth remains strong, fueled by demand in both first-line RS-positive and RS-negative settings, as well as improved treatment duration.

Breyanzi sales have also surpassed a $1 billion annualized run rate, reflecting solid uptake in large B-cell lymphoma and contributions from additional indications approved last year. Meanwhile, cardiovascular drug Camzyos continues to post rising sales on the back of robust demand.

The FDA approval of xanomeline and trospium chloride (formerly KarXT), marketed as Cobenfy, for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, represents a significant milestone for BMY.

As the first novel pharmacological approach to schizophrenia in decades, Cobenfy has seen encouraging initial uptake, with sales of $105 million. The drug is expected to become a meaningful contributor to BMY’s revenue base over time, particularly as the company pursues label expansions into additional indications.

Collectively, these growth drivers are well positioned to sustain BMY’s top-line momentum in the coming quarters.

BMY’s Recent Collaborations Signal Promise

To further diversify its portfolio, BMY continues to pursue strategic acquisitions and collaborations. Most recently, the company announced it will acquire privately held Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion in cash. This transaction will bring OTX-201, Orbital’s lead preclinical RNA immunotherapy candidate currently in IND-enabling studies, into BMY’s pipeline. OTX-201 is a next-generation CAR T-cell therapy designed to reprogram cells in vivo, with the potential for a best-in-class profile in autoimmune diseases. The deal will also add Orbital’s proprietary RNA platform to BMY’s broader pipeline.

Earlier, BMY entered a collaboration with BioNTech BNTX for the global co-development and co-commercialization of BioNTech’s investigational bispecific antibody, BNT327, across multiple solid tumor indications.

Bispecific antibodies that simultaneously target PD-1/PD-L1 and VEGF have emerged as a particularly attractive area in oncology. BNT327, a next-generation bispecific antibody candidate, is designed to target PD-L1 and VEGF-A, positioning it as a potentially differentiated therapy in cancer treatment.

BMY’s Legacy Portfolio Grapples With Generic Headwinds

Even as BMY advances its growth portfolio, its legacy portfolio continues to face pressure from ongoing generic competition, particularly impacting Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane. The erosion in sales from these mature brands has weighed on overall revenue performance.

Management continues to project a decline of approximately 15–17% in the legacy portfolio in 2025, underscoring the magnitude of generic headwinds. The legacy portfolio also includes Eliquis, the blood thinner co-developed and co-commercialized globally with Pfizer PFE.

Meanwhile, BMY recently announced a pricing agreement with the U.S. government under which it will supply Eliquis (apixaban) at no cost to Medicaid beginning Jan. 1, 2026. As part of the agreement, the company will also donate more than seven tons of the active pharmaceutical ingredient used in Eliquis to help strengthen supply-chain resilience.

Although BMY did not disclose the financial impact of the agreement, Eliquis is the company’s largest revenue contributor. As such, the effect of the pricing arrangement on Eliquis’ revenue trajectory in 2026 remains to be seen.

BMY’s Valuation and Estimate Revision

Going by the price/earnings ratio, BMY is inexpensive as of now. Shares currently trade at 9.30x forward earnings, higher than its mean of 8.41x but lower than the large-cap pharma industry’s 17.91x.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS has moved north to $6.51 from $6.48 in the past 60 days, while that for 2026 remains stable at $6.02.

BMY’s Estimate Movement

Stay Invested in BMY Stock

BMY is one of the largest biotechs and such large biotech companies are generally considered safe havens for investors interested in this sector. The company delivered a solid performance in the second half of 2025, as strong contributions from Opdivo, Reblozyl, Breyanzi and Camzyos helped stabilize its revenue base despite ongoing generic pressure on its legacy drugs.

Approval of additional new drugs and label expansion of top drugs should further diversify its pipeline.

However, generic competition is a major headwind as of now and the new drugs will take some time to offset this steep decline.

The financial impact of the deal with the government is not disclosed yet. Apart from Eliquis, the deal also covers several other drugs — including Sotyktu, Zeposia and Orencia SC (abatacept), among others — which will be offered at an 80% discount to cash-paying patients. The company also plans to continue expanding its domestic manufacturing footprint across the United States. In exchange, BMY will receive three years of tariff relief and be exempt from future pricing mandates.

Hence, we recommend prospective investors to wait and watch for the time being.

For investors already owning the stock, staying invested would be a prudent move. The company’s attractive dividend yield (4.44%) is a strong reason for existing investors to stay invested.

BMY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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