Icahn Takes Bristol-Myers Stake With M&A In Mind; Who Could Be The Acquirer?


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Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) shares spiked 4.5 percent Tuesday on news that Carl Icahn bought a stake in the company. According to the Wall Street Journal, Icahn allegedly considers Bristol-Myers a potential takeover target.

Earlier Tuesday, Bristol-Myers reported a $2 billion accelerated buyback.

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The investor's expectation corroborates a January Bloomberg report acknowledging Bristol-Myers' fall from the fourth-best to the ninth-best biopharmaceutical company in the US. The company’s struggle to push its lung cancer drug, Opdivo, set it well behind competitor Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and prompted a two-year plunge in stock value.

Now, as a more affordable company with a promising blood thinner and a potential use for Opdivo in melanoma and kidney cancer treatments, Bristol-Myers is well positioned for a buyout.

Related Link: Here's What Merck's Keytruda News Means For Bristol-Myers

Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford suggested in a recent note the company may appeal to Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) — but not likely Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) or Gilead Science, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD).

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank analysts proposed Pfizer would likely be deterred by the short-term risk of immuno-oncology trials and wouldn't make a bid.

Bristol-Myers stock waned from its post-news peak and traded at $54.78 at the time of publication.


27% profit every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his option buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads… BUYING options. Most traders don’t even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here’s how he does it.


Posted In: BiotechNewsWall Street JournalHealth CareHedge FundsMediaGeneralCarl IcahnDeutsche BankJeffrey HolfordJeffries