Bristol-Myers Squibb Q3 2026 earnings: sales beat estimates as newer drugs grow
Bristol-Myers Squibb topped profit and sales forecasts in Q3 2026, driven by newer drugs and Eliquis, and nudged its full-year revenue outlook higher.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $1.35 | $1.21 | +11.7% |
| Revenue | $13.07B | $12.87B | +1.6% |
Key takeaways
- Sales grew 7% from a year ago and topped Wall Street’s forecast, helped by a ‘Growth Portfolio’ of newer medicines — a group the company highlights because it’s taking over as some older drugs fade — which rose about 12% to roughly $7.7 billion.
- Eliquis, the blood thinner that is still BMS’s biggest seller, grew around 26% to about $4.7 billion, continuing to outperform the company’s own guidance range for the drug.
- Adjusted profit per share beat the average analyst estimate, but was well below the year-ago quarter because of a one-time charge of $0.58 per share tied to upfront and milestone payments on licensed/acquired research deals — a cost drugmakers take when they pay other companies for rights to promising experimental medicines.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook slightly, to about $49.75–$50.25 billion from $49.0–$50.0 billion, citing strength in Eliquis and the newer-drug lineup.
- At the same time, the company lowered its full-year adjusted earnings-per-share guidance, to $6.35–$6.55 from $6.75–$7.00, again pointing to the extra research and licensing charges rather than weaker underlying sales.
- Profitability over the trailing twelve months stayed strong, with roughly 72 cents of every sales dollar left after production costs (gross margin) and about a quarter left after operating expenses — a sign the business is generating solid cash even as it spends heavily to replace revenue from drugs losing patent protection.
- Management framed the quarter around the Growth Portfolio’s shift toward becoming the company’s main revenue driver, as it works to offset expected declines from aging products whose patents are expiring.
Q3 2026 in context
| Metric | Sep 2026 | Sep 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $13.1B | $12.2B | +6.9% |
| Net income | $2.2B | $2.2B | -1.8% |
| Free cash flow | $3.8B | $6.0B | -36.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.05 | $1.08 | -2.8% |
| Gross margin | 68.3% | 71.9% | -3.6 pts |
| Net margin | 16.5% | 18.0% | -1.5 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Sep 2026 and the quarter ended Sep 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company closed at $60.57 on Oct 28, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $62.48 on Oct 30, 2026, the first session after it — +3.1% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | $63.10 | $65.31 | +3.5% |
| 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.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 71.7% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 25.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 18.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 24.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $4.54 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 3.1% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 99.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 46.8% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · earnings call