Bristol-Myers Squibb Q2 2026 earnings: profit and sales top estimates, guidance raised
BMS beat Wall Street's profit and revenue forecasts as newer drugs offset generic losses on older ones, and it raised its full-year outlook.
| Q2 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $2.04 | $1.60 | +27.2% |
| Revenue | $12.97B | $11.86B | +9.4% |
Key takeaways
- Both earnings per share and revenue came in well above what analysts had expected for the quarter, continuing a run of stronger-than-forecast results.
- Total revenue rose about 6% from a year earlier, driven by the company’s newer lineup of medicines, dubbed the “Growth Portfolio,” which grew roughly 15% and now accounts for nearly 60% of all sales.
- Standout newer products included heart-disease drug Camzyos (up about 59%), the cancer cell therapy Breyanzi (up about 41%), anemia treatment Reblozyl (up about 29%), and schizophrenia drug Cobenfy (up about 81%, though still small in dollar terms).
- Blood thinner Eliquis, still the company’s single biggest product, grew sales about 22% and helped cushion a roughly 4-5% decline in the older “Legacy Portfolio,” where several drugs are losing sales to generic competition.
- The company’s underlying profitability improved: over the trailing year, operating margin was about 25.5% and net profit margin about 18.9%, meaning it’s keeping more of each sales dollar as profit than before.
- Earnings per share over the past year were roughly double what they were the year before, reflecting both stronger operating results and easier comparisons against prior charges.
- A gross margin above 71% and return on equity near 47% indicate the business is still generating substantial cash from its existing drugs even as it works to replace older products that are losing patent protection.
- Management raised its full-year 2026 guidance, now expecting revenue of $49.0-$50.0 billion (up from a prior $46.0-$47.5 billion) and adjusted earnings per share of $6.75-$7.00 (up from $6.05-$6.35), citing broad-based momentum across the portfolio.
- CEO Christopher Boerner said the Growth Portfolio “continues to deliver” and represents “an expanding share” of the business, and that consistent execution supported the higher outlook.
- The company also disclosed a delay to a key clinical readout for Cobenfy in Alzheimer’s-related psychosis, a reminder that pipeline progress on newer drugs isn’t always on the original timeline even as current sales grow.
Q2 2026 in context
| Metric | Jun 2026 | Jun 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $13.0B | $12.3B | +5.7% |
| Net income | $3.3B | $1.3B | +153.2% |
| Free cash flow | $3.1B | $3.6B | -13.2% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.62 | $0.64 | +153.1% |
| Gross margin | 71.3% | 72.5% | -1.2 pts |
| Net margin | 25.6% | 10.7% | +14.9 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Jun 2026 and the quarter ended Jun 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co closed at $63.10 on Jul 29, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $65.31 on Jul 31, 2026, the first session after it — +3.5% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 2026 | $57.59 | $58.22 | +1.1% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $42.60 | $46.07 | +8.2% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Sources: company report · earnings call · trade press coverage