Opinions
Lorne Steinberg
Bristol Myers Squibb
BMY-N
DON'T BUY
Apr 09, 2018
Stock price when the opinion was issued
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Was a laggard in the space, which you don't want to chase in and of itself. Often you want to buy strength, best in breed. If you look at the dip in the chart right after he bought, it shows you the danger of going down the food chain in a sector that's doing quite well.
He's holding on and would buy today.
Stock has been hot since the summer when the new CEO took over, then they got approval for their schizophrenia drugs. (Abbvie's drug failed last month.) But BMY has fallen 9% in the past 4 weeks--maybe because of concerns over the group, not the stock. Trades at only 7.9x PE 2025, and pays a 4.4% dividend which just increased last week. The stock is dirt cheap.
It's turned around in the last 6 months under the new CEO, rallying 40%. In the face of expiring drug patents, they launched a revolutionary schizophrenia drug. He also likes the rest of their pipeline to treat cardiovascular disease and oncology. He bought shares late last year.
They have huge oncology franchise, but face a huge patent cliff. But they have a some promising drugs. He owns this partly for the 5.6% dividend. He took shares off the table when the stock spiked earlier this year, but at current levels, he's watching the price go lower before buying again.
They have a few cancer drugs out of the pipeline that are growing. That said, their shares aren't cheap enough to step in. The problem is if the FDA decides to change their labelling that would turn a $5-billion drug into a $1-billion one. The dividend is secure. While all these companies are making money, the struggle lies in earnings growth.