Earnings Preview for Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY, CTIC)

Bristol Myers Squibb Company BMY is expected to report its Q1 earnings results on Thursday, April 28, before the markets open. Analysts are predicting earnings per share to be $0.53, slightly below $0.56 recorded last year. Bristol Myers Squibb Company is engaged in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of pharmaceutical products on a global basis. The company's products are sold worldwide, primarily to wholesalers, retail pharmacies, hospitals, government entities and the medical profession. It manufactures products in the United States, Puerto Rico and in eight foreign countries. The company's pharmaceutical products include chemically-synthesized drugs, or small molecules, and an increasing portion of products produced from biological processes called biologics. Small molecule drugs are typically administered orally in the form of a pill, although there are other drug delivery mechanisms that are used as well. Biologics are administered to patients through injections. On October 12, 2010, the company acquired ZymoGenetics. Investors might become anxious after Cell Therapeutics CTIC, one of Bristol Myers' competitors, reported lower than expected Q1 results today. This is expected to be a somewhat difficult quarter for Bristol Myers, as earnings per share is projected to be down 5.4% on a yearly basis, while revenues are expected to stand at $4.95 billion, a yearly increase of 2.9%. The short-term future does look a bit better, however, as earnings and revenues are expected to pick up in the rest of the year. For the year as a whole, earnings per share is expected to be up 0.9%, while revenues should increase by 4.7%. Bristol Myers' shares have breached through the $28 barrier in the yesterday's trading, the first time in 52 weeks. Analysts seem to be skeptical about how far the shares can progress, however, as the majority of rating agencies have a Hold rating on Bristol Myers.