Feb 6 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers Squibb ( BMY ) on

Thursday posted better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings,

but said its 2025 revenue would fall more sharply than Wall

Street had forecast due to generic competition for some of its

older drugs.

The company forecast 2025 revenue of around $45.5 billion,

down from $48.3 billion in 2024 and below analyst expectations

of $47.4 billion, according to LSEG data. It forecast 2025

earnings in the range of $6.55 to $6.85 a share, below the

average analyst estimate of $6.92 a share.

The drugmaker also said it is expanding its cost-cutting

program by an additional $2 billion by the end of 2027, bringing

the total cost cuts under the program to $3.5 billion.

Bristol has already been contending with sharp revenue loss

from its cancer drug Revlimid, which brought in nearly $13

billion in 2021 and just $5.8 billion last year due to generic

rivals.

But Chief Executive Chris Boerner said in an interview the

company will also be hurt in 2025 by the loss of exclusivity of

other cancer drugs Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane.

"We've been very clear about our focus, which is driving

sustained top-tier growth as we exit the decade, and

specifically increasing the velocity of growth in the last

couple of years exiting this decade and into the next," Boerner

said. "Our focus is working on making sure that the period in

which the business is declining is as short and as shallow as

possible."

Shares of Bristol Myers closed at $59.71 on Wednesday. The

stock is up around 25% over the past year, driven in part by

investor enthusiasm for its new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy,

which was approved by the FDA last September.

The company said it earned $3.4 billion, or $1.67 per share

in the fourth quarter, down from $3.5 billion, or $1.70 per

share, a year ago. Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings

of $1.46 a share for the quarter.

Revenue in the quarter rose 8% to $12.3 billion, topping

analyst estimates of $11.6 billion.

Sales of its cancer immunotherapy Opdivo rose 4% to $2.5

billion, while Revlimid sales fell 8% to $1.3 billion. Analysts

had expected sales of those drugs to be around $2.5 billion and

$1.1 billion, respectively.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)