July 31 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers Squibb ( BMY ) posted

much better-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday on

strong sales of its most established and best-selling brands,

blood thinner Eliquis and cancer treatments Opdivo and Revlimid.

Revenue in the quarter, which analysts had expected to fall

due to the loss of patent protection on some of its products,

including Revlimid, rose 1% to $12.3 billion. Analysts, on

average, were looking for revenue of $11.4 billion, according to

LSEG data.

The U.S. drugmaker said it earned $2.9 billion, or $1.46 per

share, down from $4.2 billion, or $2.07, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.07 a share.

"The majority of our brands outperformed consensus in the

quarter," Chief Financial Officer David Elkins said in an

interview. "We just have really solid commercial execution."

Sales of Eliquis, which Bristol Myers shares with Pfizer ( PFE )

, rose 8% to $3.7 billion in the quarter, while cancer

immunotherapy Opdivo brought in $2.6 billion, up 7% from a year

ago. Analysts, on average, had forecast sales of $3.3 billion

and $2.3 billion for those drugs, respectively.

Revlimid sales fell 38% to $838 million, but still topped

analyst estimates by about $300 million.

Bristol has been contending with a steep revenue decline

from Revlimid, which raked in nearly $13 billion in 2021 but

$5.8 billion last year due to generic rivals. Some of its other

cancer drugs such as Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane are

contending with the same issue.

Still, Revlimid has held up better than initially feared,

and the company now expects 2025 sales of around $3 billion,

Chief Commercialization Officer Adam Lenkowsky said. The company

had previously said it expected 2025 Revlimid sales to be near

$2.5 billion.

Bristol Myers raised its full-year revenue forecast to a

range of $46.5 billion to $47.5 billion from its prior view of

$45.8 billion to $46.8 billion.

It now expects full-year earnings, including a charge from a

development deal with Germany's BioNTech, to be $6.35

to $6.65 a share. Analysts are estimating 2025 earnings of

around $6.24 per share.