About 65% of Bristol-Myers Squibb's
Analysts and investors were right to fret. Bristol-Myers estimates that health-care reform will bring down profits by $0.12 per share. That's about 5% of non-GAAP guidance for the year.
But shares still jumped more than 4% yesterday, after the company said that business was strong enough to absorb more than half of the effect of health-care reform. Bristol-Myers only reduced its guidance by $0.05 per share on either end of the range.
The company had seven drugs that saw sales jump by 15% or more, including megablockbuster Plavix, which it sells with sanofi-aventis
Don't feel too bad, Lilly; Bristol-Myers feels your pain. The company's new diabetes drug Onglyza, which it sells with AstraZeneca
Me-too drugs clearly aren't what they used to be, but investors should be happy that one paltry drug launch is Bristol-Myers's biggest near-term problem. Longer-term, the company still has to deal with Plavix going off-patent. But for now, investors can revel in escaping Uncle Sam's grip with minimal harm.
Bristol-Myers is in good company, according to Jordan DiPietro.
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Fool contributor Brian Orelli, Ph.D., doesn't own shares of any company mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool Options recommended buying calls on Johnson & Johnson's stock. Pfizer is a recommendation of the Inside Value newsletter. The Fool has a disclosure policy.