Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s (BMY - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2017 earnings of 68 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 67 cents and came ahead of the year-ago quarter earnings of 63 cents.

Moreover, total revenues of $5.45 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.31 billion and increased from $5.24 billion recorded in the year-ago period. Strong sales of Opdivo and Eliquis contributed to the top line in the reported quarter.

Shares of the company were up almost 4% in pre-market trading, presumably on better-than expected earnings. Bristol-Myers’ shares have increased 24.4% in the past year, which compares favorably with the industry’s increase of 19%.

Quarterly Details

Revenues were up 2% year over year when adjusted for foreign exchange impact. Revenues increased 7% to $2.9 billion in the United States and 1% outside the country. Ex-U.S. revenues were down 3% when adjusted for foreign exchange impact.

Leukemia drug Sprycel raked in sales of $527 million, up 7% year over year. In November 2017, the FDA approved a label expansion for the drug to include treatment of pediatric patients with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase.

Rheumatoid arthritis drug, Orencia, was up 6% in fourth-quarter 2017 to $662 million. Melanoma drug, Yervoy contributed $269 million to the top line during the reported quarter, up 2%. In January 2018, a label expansion of the drug in pediatric patients with advanced melanoma was approved in Europe.

Opdivo, which is approved for multiple cancer indications, generated revenues of $1.36 billion, up 4% from the year-ago period. The drug received approval for intravenous administration in melanoma patients as adjuvant treatment.

However, the performance of key drugs in the Virology unit continues to disappoint. Sales of Baraclude declined 21% to $233 million. The Reyataz and Sustiva franchises deteriorated 31% and 29% year over year to $143 million and $174 million, respectively.

Sales of Eliquis were $1.36 billion during the reported quarter, up 44% year over year. Multiple myeloma drug, Empliciti recorded sales of $63 million, up 34% year over year.

Research and development (R&D) expenses in the quarter increased 37% to $1.9 billion mainly due to a charge of $377 million related to license and asset acquisition, while marketing, selling and administrative expenses declined 11% to $1.3 billion.

Gross margin was 69.3% in the quarter compared with 73.6% in the year-ago quarter due to change in product mix.

In December 2017, Bristol-Myers and privately-held TARIS Biomedical LLC announced a clinical collaboration to evaluate the combination of Bristol-Myers’ Opdivo and TARIS’ investigational product, TAR-200, in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. Moreover, Bristol-Myers also entered into an agreement with Japan based Ono Pharmaceutical in the same months. The agreement grants Bristol-Myers rights to develop and commercialize Ono’s selective Prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 antagonist, ONO-4578.

2017 Performance

Product sales increased 8.8% to $19.25 billion, primarily driven by strong sales of Opdico following several line extensions. Opdivo sales rose 31% to $4.95 billion. Eliquis sales increased 46% to $4.87 billion. Adjusted earnings per share for the full year came in at $3.01.

Pipeline Update

In February 2018, Bristol Myers announced data from a phase III study, Checkmate -227, which showed superior progression-free survival in first-line non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) treated with Opdivo – Yervoy combination compared to chemotherapy. Moreover in January 2018, Bristol-Myers announced positive data from Phase II CheckMate -142 study evaluating combination of Opdivo and Yervoy in patients with DNA mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

In December 2017, the FDA lifted partial clinical hold from phase I CA209 -039 study and phase II CA204142 study, evaluating Opdivo combination regimens in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

In November 2017, a phase III study, CheckMate -078, was stopped early as Opdivo achieved superior overall survival in previously-treated patients with NSCLC as compared to docetaxel.

2018 Earnings Guidance

Bristol-Myers provided its adjusted earnings expectations for 2018. The company projects earnings in the range of $3.15 to $3.30 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $3.21. The company expects revenues to increase in low- to mid-single digits.

Our Take

Bristol-Myers beat earnings expectations, primarily on robust sales of drugs like Opdivo, Eliquis and Yervoy in the quarter. The 2018 guidance was also encouraging. Meanwhile, we are positive on Bristol-Myers’ efforts to develop its pipeline, especially Opdivo. Several label expansion applications for Opdivo are under review in the United States and Europe. Potential approval will the prospects of these drugs.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Quote

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

Some better-ranked companies in the large-cap pharma industry are AbbVie Inc. (ABBV - Free Report) , Pfizer Inc. (PFE - Free Report) and H Lundbeck A/S (HLUYY - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Shares of AbbVie have gained 89.9% in the past year while earnings estimates for 2018 have gone up 9.9% over the past 30 days.

Shares of Pfizer have returned 13.6% in the past year while earnings estimates for 2018 have gone up 6% over the past 30 days.

Shares of H Lundbeck have gained 14.5% in the past year while earnings estimates for 2018 have gone up 13% over the past 30 days.