Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) Up 4.5% — Jump In Now?
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) is pushing decisively higher on Thursday, last trading at $61.98 on the NYSE. That is a $2.70 gain over the prior close of $59.28 and one of the stronger single-session advances in the name this quarter. The rally puts BMY roughly 9.7% below its 52-week high of $68.64, set on August 19, 2026, and recovers a meaningful share of the ground lost since that summer peak. With the stock now within striking distance of the high, the setup favors investors who held through the pullback.
Roughly 4.85 million shares have traded so far with the regular session still open. That compares to a 90-day average of about 11.88 million. The advance is coming on measured turnover, with the full-day tally still to be written.
Why Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Price is Moving Higher
The lead driver is a powerful sector-wide pharma rally, and BMY is moving squarely with the group. Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) is up 5.14%, Amgen Inc. (AMGN) rose 3.31%, AstraZeneca (AZN) has gained more than 4%, and Novo Nordisk (NVO) has climbed over 3%. Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) have each added more than 2%. The rotation traces back to Wednesday's hotter-than-expected inflation report. September CPI rose 3.7% year over year against a 3.6% consensus, and the S&P 500 fell 1.1% as investors moved into defensive healthcare names. BMY combines a 4.25% dividend yield with a forward P/E of just 13.06, which makes it a natural destination for that capital.
Company-specific momentum gives the move extra conviction. On October 12, BMS announced two positive Phase 3 readouts. RYZ101 met its main endpoint in neuroendocrine tumors, and admilparant met its endpoint in lung fibrosis at the 60-mg dose. Four days earlier, on October 8, the iberdomide combination in multiple myeloma posted median progression-free survival of 42 months versus 20 months for the comparator, a 51% lower risk of progression or death. Three late-stage wins in under a week strengthen the case that BMY's pipeline can carry the next leg of growth.
The fundamentals underneath are already strong. BMS's most recent quarter, reported on July 30, delivered adjusted EPS of $2.04 against a $1.59 estimate, a 40% jump year over year. Revenue of $13.0 billion topped the $11.7 billion consensus and grew 6%. Management then raised full-year 2026 guidance to $49 billion to $50 billion in revenue and $6.75 to $7.00 in adjusted EPS. The next test arrives on October 29, when the company reports Q3 results, and today's buying suggests investors are positioning ahead of that report.
What is the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Rating - Should I Buy?
Weiss Ratings assigns BMY a B- rating. Current recommendation is Buy. That rating rests on a fundamental profile that is strong across the board. Its relative weakness sits in stock-level performance rather than in the business itself.
BMY is rated Excellent on the Growth, Efficiency and Solvency Indices, and together those ratings describe a drugmaker firing on all cylinders. Revenue growth of 5.74% is solid for a company of BMY's size. The more telling evidence is the 40% year-over-year surge in adjusted EPS last quarter and management's decision to raise guidance midyear. The Excellent Efficiency Index rating is backed by a 46.60% ROE and an 18.87% profit margin. That level of return shows BMY converting its oncology, hematology and cardiovascular franchises into earnings at a pace few large-cap pharma peers match. The Excellent Solvency rating signals that the balance sheet can fund an expanding late-stage pipeline and the dividend at the same time without strain.
Where the picture becomes more nuanced is in the market-facing dimensions. BMY is rated Fair on the Total Return Index, the Volatility Index and the Dividend Index. The Total Return rating reflects a stock that peaked at $68.64 in August and gave back a sizable portion of those gains before today's rebound. The Volatility rating captures that swing alongside sessions like this one, where a defensive sector rotation lifted the shares 4.55% in a single day. The Fair Dividend Index rating shows that Weiss's assessment looks beyond the 4.25% headline yield. These are the factors holding the overall rating at B- rather than higher, and they are also the areas with the most room to improve if the shares reclaim their August highs.
Within the Health Care sector, Bristol-Myers Squibb's rating matches Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO, B-). It sits just behind Eli Lilly and Company (LLY, B) and AbbVie Inc. (ABBV, B), while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, B+) and Amgen Inc. (AMGN, B+) hold the top spots in this group. For investors focused on valuation, BMY's 13.06 forward multiple and 4.25% yield offer a compelling entry point within a peer set rated Buy across the board.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) is a Health Care company that discovers, develops and markets innovative medicines worldwide. Its commercial portfolio spans oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease and neuroscience. Key products include the anticoagulant Eliquis, developed in partnership with Pfizer, and the immuno-oncology franchise built around Opdivo, Yervoy and Opdualag. In hematology, BMS markets Revlimid, Pomalyst and Reblozyl, along with the cell therapies Breyanzi and Abecma.
The company has spent recent years rebuilding its growth portfolio ahead of patent expirations on legacy blockbusters. Newer products include Camzyos for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Sotyktu for psoriasis, Zeposia for multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis, and Cobenfy, a novel schizophrenia treatment added through the Karuna acquisition. Targeted acquisitions have also expanded the pipeline into radiopharmaceuticals with RyzeBio's RYZ101 and into precision oncology with Krazati. Late-stage candidates such as iberdomide in multiple myeloma and admilparant in pulmonary fibrosis extend that pipeline further.
BMS's competitive advantages come from deep scientific expertise in oncology and hematology, a global commercial infrastructure and the scale to run large Phase 3 programs across multiple therapeutic areas at once. Its leadership in cell therapy and protein degradation gives it platforms that smaller competitors struggle to replicate. Its established relationships with oncologists and hematologists speed the uptake of each new launch.
Investor Outlook
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) carries a Weiss Rating of B- (Buy), and its accelerating earnings, raised guidance, string of Phase 3 wins and defensive appeal amid hot inflation data make it a name worth owning. Investors should watch the October 29 Q3 report for confirmation of the $6.75 to $7.00 EPS outlook, along with further regulatory progress on iberdomide, RYZ101 and admilparant. See full rankings of all B- rated Health Care stocks inside the Weiss Stock Screener.
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