BMY Bristol Myers Squibb Co

By Tess Stynes 

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 1% amid continued expansion of the pharmaceutical company's Opdivo cancer immunotherapy franchise and sales growth of other key drugs.

Earnings, excluding certain one-time items, and revenue beat expectations. The company's 2016 per-share earnings guidance also topped Wall Street views.

The company also said that a phase 3 study of Opdivo was stopped early after an independent data monitoring committee concluded that it met its primary endpoint of superior overall survival in patients with hard-to-treat cases of head and neck cancer.

Bristol-Myers forecast per-share earnings of $2.30 to $2.40 and revenue growth in the mid-single digits for 2016. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of $2.29 and revenue growth of 6% to $17.4 billion.

For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, Bristol-Myers reported that revenue increased to $4.29 billion from $4.26 billion a year earlier. Excluding currency effects, the growth was 6%. Analysts expected revenue of $4.15 billion.

"We have entered a period of expected growth," Chief Executive Giovanni Caforio said on a conference call.

Bristol-Myers has gained attention as a leader in developing drugs that enlist the power of the immune system against cancer. The company's Opdivo, also known as nivolumab, was first approved for sale in December 2014 for advanced melanoma and has since been approved for other indications including lung cancer and renal cancer.

For the latest quarter, Bristol-Myers reported Opdivo sales of $475 million, bringing the total since its launch to $948 million.

Analysts had expected Opdivo will amass billions of dollars in yearly sales, as its launch progresses and its use broadens to other cancers.

Sales of Yervoy, another skin-cancer immunotherapy drug declined again in the latest quarter, falling 28% to $265 million, partly because of Opdivo's growth, particularly in skin cancer. Bristol's Yervoy was the first immunotherapy, approved in 2011.

But for the year, the company's total immunotherapy product sales jumped to $2.1 billion, from $1.3 billion in 2014. And executives touted the early halt of a total of three Opdivo trials in various cancers. "Regarding immuno-oncology, it was nothing less than an incredible year, " Mr. Caforio said.

Mr. Caforio reiterated that the company was interested in building out other parts of the company's portfolio, including drugs for cardiovascular conditions such as heart failure.

Overall, Bristol-Myers reported a loss of $138 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $13 million, or a penny a share, a year earlier. Excluding acquisition- and collaboration-deal-related charges, and other items, per-share earnings fell to 38 cents from 46 cents. Analysts expected an adjusted per-share profit of 28 cents.

Gross margin rose to 77.8% from 77.3%.

Among other key drugs, sales of anticlotting drug Eliquis sales more than doubled to $602 million from $281 million. Sales of its hepatitis C franchise drugs also more than doubled, rising to $458 million from $207 million. But sales of HIV drugs Reyataz and Sustiva fell to $584 million, from $725 million.

Jonathan D. Rockoff contributed to this article.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2016 13:27 ET (18:27 GMT)

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