Biopharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) reported Q2 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 5.7% year on year to $12.97 billion. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $49.5 billion at the midpoint came in 4.3% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.04 per share was 27.7% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

With roots dating back to 1887 and a transformative merger in 1989 that gave the company its current name, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) discovers, develops, and markets prescription medications for serious diseases including cancer, blood disorders, immunological conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.

Revenue Growth

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Unfortunately, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s 2.2% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was tepid. This was below our standards and is a poor baseline for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within healthcare, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s annualized revenue growth of 2.8% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak.

Bristol-Myers Squibb also breaks out the revenue for its most important segment, Growth Portfolio. Over the last two years, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Growth Portfolio revenue averaged 15.8% year-on-year growth. This segment has outperformed its total sales during the same period, lifting the company’s performance.

This quarter, Bristol-Myers Squibb reported year-on-year revenue growth of 5.7%, and its $12.97 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 12.9%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 6% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and suggests its products and services will see some demand headwinds.

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Adjusted Operating Margin

Adjusted operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after subtracting all core expenses, like marketing and R&D. It also removes various one-time costs to paint a better picture of normalized profits.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a healthcare business, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 31%.

Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s adjusted operating margin decreased by 10.3 percentage points over the last five years, but it rose by 21.4 percentage points on a two-year basis. Still, shareholders will want to see Bristol-Myers Squibb become more profitable in the future.

In Q2, Bristol-Myers Squibb generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 31.5%, up 3.4 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth — for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s flat EPS over the last five years was below its 2.2% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded due to non-fundamental factors such as interest expenses and taxes.

Diving into the nuances of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s earnings can give us a better understanding of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s adjusted operating margin expanded this quarter but declined by 10.3 percentage points over the last five years. This was the most relevant factor (aside from the revenue impact) behind its lower earnings; interest expenses and taxes can also affect EPS but don’t tell us as much about a company’s fundamentals.

In Q2, Bristol-Myers Squibb reported adjusted EPS of $2.04, up from $1.46 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Bristol-Myers Squibb’s full-year EPS to shrink by 7.1% from $6.51 to $6.05.

Key Takeaways from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Q2 Results

It was good to see Bristol-Myers Squibb beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this was a good print with some key areas of upside. The stock traded up 1.8% to $64.52 immediately after reporting.

Sure, Bristol-Myers Squibb had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).