Can BMY's Growth Portfolio Counter Legacy Drugs Decline in 2026?

Bristol Myers Squibb’s BMY performance in the recently reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 reflects an ongoing transition in its revenue base, with growth from newer products partially offsetting continued declines in legacy drugs.

Revenues in 2025 were flat year over year. Sales from the company’s growth portfolio increased 17% in 2025, while revenues from legacy products declined 15%, largely due to generic competition.

The legacy portfolio, which includes Eliquis, Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane, remains under pressure as loss of exclusivity for four drugs (Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane) continues to weigh on overall sales.

Meanwhile, the growth portfolio — featuring Opdivo, Opdivo Qvantig, Orencia, Yervoy, Reblozyl, Camzyos, Breyanzi, Opdualag, Zeposia, Abecma, Sotyku, Krazati and Cobenfy — is playing an increasingly important role in supporting top-line stability.

Among these, the company’s immuno-oncology (IO) portfolio, along with drugs like Camzyos, Breyanzi and Reblozyl, maintains momentum for the company.

Blockbuster IO drug Opdivo has maintained sales momentum, driven by label expansions in newer indications and continued share growth within the first-line non-small cell lung cancer setting.

The approval of Opdivo Qvantig, a subcutaneous formulation, has added incremental growth, with initial uptake proving robust across all approved tumor types in the United States.

Other key drugs are contributing to revenue growth, though at varying stages of maturity.

Opdualag sales remain robust, particularly in the United States, where it continues to serve as a standard of care in first-line melanoma.

Reblozyl has reached an annualized sales run rate above $2 billion, driven by demand in first- and second-line MDS-associated anemia patients. Breyanzi has surpassed $1 billion in annualized sales, reflecting adoption in large B-cell lymphoma and recent label expansions. Camzyos continues to see increasing demand in the cardiovascular segment.

Cobenfy, representing the first novel pharmacological approach to schizophrenia in decades, has shown encouraging early uptake supported by broader access and expanding use across community and hospital settings. The therapy is expected to become a meaningful long-term contributor as additional indications are pursued.

While BMY’s newer products are helping mitigate erosion in legacy brands, generic competition remains a structural headwind, with the legacy portfolio accounting for 45% of total 2025 sales.

Management expects sales from the legacy segment to decline a further 12-16% in 2026, as reflected in the company’s annual revenue guidance of $46.0-$47.5 billion (down from $48.2 billion generated in 2025).

Competition for BMY’s Key Drugs

Oncology is a key therapeutic area of focus for Bristol Myers, which is developing and delivering transformational drugs in this space. However, BMY faces competition from large pharma companies like Merck MRK.

The immuno-oncology space is dominated by pharma giant MRK’s blockbuster drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

Keytruda is approved for several types of cancer and alone accounts for around 50% of MRK’s pharmaceutical sales. Merck is currently working on different strategies to drive the long-term growth of Keytruda.

Merck’s oncology portfolio boasts a blockbuster PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda, and the company is looking to build a diversified oncology pipeline spanning differentiated mechanisms and multiple modalities.

In the cardiovascular space, competition is stepping up with approval of new drugs. Cytokinetics CYTK recently won FDA approval of aficamten for the treatment of patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) in the United States, under the brand name Myqorzo.

This marks the company’s first FDA-approved product, transforming Cytokinetics from a development-stage biotech into a commercial-stage company.

The approval of Myqorzo is a significant boost for CYTK, given the market potential for the oHCM market.

BMY’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Bristol Myers have gained 12.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 19.6%.

From a valuation standpoint, BMY is trading at a discount to the large-cap pharma industry. Going by the price/earnings ratio, shares currently trade at 9.80x forward earnings, higher than its mean of 8.44x but lower than the large-cap pharma industry’s 18.82x.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS has moved north to $6.15 from $6.04 in the past 30 days, while that for 2027 has inched up to $5.94 in the same time frame.

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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