Bristol Myers Squibb Growth Portfolio Offsets Legacy Drug Declines in 2025
Bristol Myers Squibb's growth portfolio increased 17% in 2025, partially offsetting a 15% decline in legacy products facing generic competition. The company's stock gained 11.4% in the past month on strong fourth-quarter results.
Shares of Bristol Myers Squibb have gained 11.4% in the past month, outperforming the industry's growth of 5%. The stock has also outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 in the same time frame. Robust fourth-quarter results driven by strength in the company's growth portfolio and an improving investor sentiment are driving the stock.
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 growth portfolio accounted for 55% of total revenues in 2025.
The growth portfolio includes key brands such as Opdivo, Opdivo Qvantig, Orencia, Yervoy, Reblozyl, Camzyos, Breyanzi, Opdualag, Zeposia, Abecma, Sotyktu, Krazati and Cobenfy. The growth is being driven by the company's immuno-oncology portfolio, along with drugs like Camzyos, Breyanzi and Reblozyl.
Blockbuster IO drug Opdivo is the top revenue generator in this portfolio. Sales continue to be strong, 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 for subcutaneous administration has further strengthened the IO franchise, with initial uptake proving robust across all approved tumor types in the United States.
Sales of its oncology drug, Opdualag, have also been robust, fueling the top line. Growth is strong in the U.S. market, where the drug remains a standard of care in first-line melanoma.
Reblozyl, the thalassemia drug co-developed with Merck, continues to be a major growth driver, with annualized sales now exceeding $2 billion. Revenue growth remains strong, reflecting solid uptake across first- and second-line MDS-associated anemia patients.
Breyanzi sales surpassed a $1 billion annualized run rate, reflecting solid uptake in large B-cell lymphoma and contributions from additional indications. The cardiovascular drug Camzyos has also performed well on the back of robust demand.
The FDA approval of xanomeline and trospium chloride, marketed as Cobenfy, for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, represents a significant milestone. As the first novel pharmacological approach to schizophrenia in decades, Cobenfy has seen encouraging initial uptake, with sales of $155 million in 2025 driven by expanded access and deepened adoption across community and hospital settings. The drug is expected to become a meaningful contributor to the revenue base over time, particularly as the company pursues label expansions into additional indications.
The legacy portfolio remains under pressure from generic competition, notably affecting Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane, causing a 15% revenue decline in 2025. The segment — which includes Eliquis, co-developed with Pfizer — generated 45% of total 2025 revenues ($48.2 billion). Although Eliquis demand rose, gains were offset by broader generic erosion and higher U.S. government rebates.
Management expects the legacy portfolio to decline 12-16% in 2026, while Eliquis sales are projected to grow 10-15% on strong global demand. 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).
Under a new U.S. agreement effective Jan. 1, 2026, Eliquis will be supplied at no cost to Medicaid, alongside API donations to support supply-chain resilience. Several other medicines, including Sotyktu, Zeposia and Orencia SC, will also be offered at steep discounts to eligible cash-paying patients.
The company expects to report top-line registrational data (mostly in the second half) for six promising candidates — milvexian in both atrial fibrillation and secondary stroke prevention, admilparant in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, iberdomide, mezigdomide and arlo-cel in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and RYZ101 in second-line gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
The company also continues to pursue strategic acquisitions and collaborations to expand its pipeline. The recent acquisition of Orbital Therapeutics adds OTX-201, a preclinical RNA CAR-T therapy designed to reprogram cells in vivo for autoimmune diseases, along with Orbital's RNA platform. In 2025, Bristol Myers partnered with BioNTech to co-develop the bispecific antibody pumitamig for solid tumors.
From a valuation standpoint, 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 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.