Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) — Fundamental Analysis & Key Financial Ratios

Kaplio's reading: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Updated on October 30, 2026 · accounts published on October 29, 2026

Reading of October 29, 2026: A cash-generative drugmaker with strong margins, flat sales and uneven returns on capital

Bristol-Myers Squibb trades at a P/E of 13.5 over the last 12 months, 35 % below its ten-year median and 56 % below the healthcare sector median.

• Is Bristol-Myers Squibb expensive or cheap? Its P/E of 13.5 is 35 % below its ten-year median of 20.7 and 56 % below the sector median of 30.4.
• How is the business doing? Revenue was flat over the last 12 months, but EPS rose 178 % and the fiscal 2025 operating margin of 28.5 % was a 12-year high.
• Does it invest enough in R&D and turn profit into cash? R&D took 20.6 % of revenue in fiscal 2025 and free cash flow was 182 % of net income, both above healthcare thresholds.
• How strong is the balance sheet? Net debt was $18.79 per share in fiscal 2025, 31 % of the price, and the 4.1 % dividend has risen six years in a row.
• What to expect from the next earnings? Next results on February 4, 2027, with EPS of $1.63 expected, after the 2026 EPS consensus fell 9 % in 30 days.

Is Bristol-Myers Squibb expensive or cheap?

Over the last 12 months Bristol-Myers Squibb trades at a P/E of 13.5, against a ten-year median of 20.7 on reported earnings. In the last decade it has traded lower only 17 % of the time, within a range of 10.2 to 63.9. The healthcare sector median is 30.4 across 246 companies, so the discount is wide. Other yardsticks point the same way: EV/EBITDA of 6.0× and a free cash flow yield of 11.8 %. The stock is up 49 % over 12 months and still 10 % below its 52-week high of $68.09, so the market has closed part of the gap.

How is the business doing?

Sales over the last 12 months were essentially unchanged, down 0.2 %, so the 178 % jump in EPS came without help from revenue growth. The fiscal 2025 operating margin of 28.5 % was the highest of the 12 fiscal years from 2014 to 2025, whose average is 22.2 %. The trailing figure has eased to 20.4 %, with a net margin of 18.5 %. ROIC of 11.6 % over the last 12 months is 6.0 points above the sector median of 5.6 %, but returns have been uneven: above 10 % in only 5 of the last 10 fiscal years, with a low of 3.9 % in 2019.

Does it invest enough in R&D and turn profit into cash?

In healthcare the R&D pipeline is the invisible asset: expiring patents are revenue that disappears, so the sector is judged on innovation and cash flow more than on one year of earnings. Bristol-Myers Squibb spent 20.6 % of fiscal 2025 revenue on R&D, above the 15 % healthy mark. Its gross margin of 71.1 % clears the 70 % bar for branded pharma, but only just. Free cash flow equalled 182 % of net income, double the 90 % threshold, so reported profit understates the cash generated. The weak spot is ROIC of 11.6 % over the last 12 months, right at the edge of the 12 % healthy level.

How strong is the balance sheet?

Net debt of 2.4× EBITDA in fiscal 2025 sits just under the 2.5× level that healthcare treats as healthy, leaving little room for more leverage. Debt of $24.02 per share against cash of $5.23 puts net debt at 31 % of the current price. The Altman Z of 2.3 places the company in the grey zone, while a Piotroski score of 8 of 9 over the last 12 months signals improving fundamentals. The dividend yields 4.1 % and has grown for 6 consecutive fiscal years. The payout was 72 % of fiscal 2025 earnings, and free cash flow covers it more comfortably than earnings do.

What to expect from the next earnings?

Bristol-Myers Squibb has beaten EPS estimates in each of the last 8 quarters. On October 29, 2026 it reported EPS of $1.35 against $1.10 expected, a 22.7 % beat. Even so, the 2026 EPS consensus dropped 8.9 % over the last 30 days, from $6.33 down from $6.95 across 16 analysts, while the revenue consensus edged up 0.5 %. Of 42 analysts, 19 rate it a buy, 21 a hold and 2 a sell, a lukewarm stance in line with the low multiple. The February 4, 2027 report will show whether the run of beats holds as estimates come down.

How this was prepared: the data comes from companies' official filings, collected by a professional provider, and from Kaplio's analysis engine (trailing-12-month ratios, 10 years of history and sector medians computed across US-listed companies). The text is written from that data alone, every figure is checked against it before publication, and it is reviewed when the company reports results. This is not investment advice.