Aniket PujariJPMorgan touts Bristol Myers Squibb as a top biopharma pick. Jim Cramer is also quite fond of it. The news In a Friday note, JPMorgan analysts said Bristol Myers is well positioned to “further re-rate” as Cobenfy goes wider. The oral drug designed to help treat adults with schizophrenia has the potential to reach peak sales of $10 billion or more annually, according to the analysts. Bristol Myers also has “several additional pipeline readouts pending” this year and in 2026, the analysts said, adding that the drugmaker’s shares are still trading at a steep discount in comparison to its peers. Big picture Health care has been the best-performing S & P 500 sector index year to date, with a gain of nearly 5% versus the overall S & P 500 ‘s decline of more than 4%. JPMorgan attributes the strength in health care to a market rotation into “more defensive names given broader Macro uncertainty.” Despite recent moves, which appear to be more non-fundamentally driven, the analysts said the “Large Cap BioPharma sector is highly under-owned continuing into the year and remains below historic averages.” Bristol Myers shares have gained roughly 4% year to date. BMY .GSPHC,.SPX YTD mountain Bristol Myers YTD vs. Health care sector and S & P 500 Bottom line The Club remains optimistic about Bristol Myers and shares JPMorgan’s enthusiasm about Cobenfy. “There are two big Cobenfy readouts expected later this year that serve as catalyst events. If successful, we’ll see analysts raise their peak sales forecasts,” according to Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis for the Club. On March 7, we capitalized on a Bristol Myers move to a new 52-week high and locked in some profits. The stock, which has been a winner this year in a tough market, did pull back some this past week as the rotation into defensive stocks with limited economic sensitivity cooled off a bit. However, Jim has not been discouraged by this week’s Bristol Myers pullback. In fact, he said the Club would consider further declines as an opportunity to buy back shares sold higher. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long BMY. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
The logo of the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, (BMS) is seen on the facade of the company’s Munich headquarters on August 29, 2024 in Munich (Bavaria).
Matthias Balk | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
