Bristol-Myers profit tops Street view, raises full-year forecast

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Thursday reported better-than-expected second quarter earnings and raised its full-year forecast on strong sales of its blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo and blood thinner Eliquis.

Shares of the U.S. drugmaker were up 0.7 percent in morning trading after earlier rising more than 3 percent.

Analysts saw the performance of Opdivo alone and in combination with its other immuno-oncology drug Yervoy as positive in the face of stiff competition from rival immunotherapies, particularly Merck & Co's Keytruda.

"The performance is encouraging, but immuno-oncology competition is intensifying," BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei wrote in a research note. "Therefore, R&D and commercial execution in immuno-oncology remains paramount."

Revenue totaled $5.7 billion in the quarter, up 11 percent from the same period last year, buoyed by sales of Eliquis, which surged 40 percent to $1.65 billion, and Opdivo, up 36 percent to $1.63 billion.

Bristol-Myers was a pioneer in immunotherapy, but Merck's drug is expected to pull ahead given Keytruda's domination as an initial treatment for advanced lung cancer.

Bristol-Myers shares were hit hard earlier this year when Merck presented promising survival data for Keytruda in non-small cell lung cancer, cementing its lead position in the most lucrative oncology market. They are still around 15 percent off highs hit in February, even with Thursday's gains.

Analysts have predicted that Keytruda's sales will surpass Opdivo's in the recent quarter. Merck is expected to report earnings on Friday.

Excluding one-time items, the drugmaker said it earned $1.01 a share in the quarter. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 87 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net earnings fell to $373 million, or 23 cents a share, from $916 million, or 56 cents a share, last year. The company's results in the quarter were hurt by one-time payments to Nektar Therapeutics as part of the $1.85 billion development and profit-sharing deal struck earlier this year on a promising Nektar cancer drug.

Still, Bristol-Myers raised its full-year earnings forecast to $3.55 to $3.65 per share, taking up the top and bottom end of the range of its previous forecast by 20 cents a share. It now expects mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth, after previously predicting mid-single-digit growth.

(Reporting by Michael Erman, editing by G Crosse and Bill Berkrot)