Investing.com -- Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) fell 2.5% in premarket trading after Leerink Partners downgraded the pharmaceutical giant from Outperform to Market Perform, citing growing skepticism surrounding key candidates in the company’s drug development pipeline.

Alongside the downgrade, Leerink slashed its price target on the stock to $59 from $73. Analyst David Risinger emphasized that upcoming clinical readouts pose significant risks, leaving the firm without the confidence needed to recommend the stock.

"We changed our investment thesis after conducting more detailed assessments of key pipeline candidates reading out over the next several months," Risinger wrote in a note to clients. "We concluded that we don’t have enough conviction in strong results to recommend investors buy BMY shares."

The downgrade targets three primary areas of concern within Bristol-Myers’ late-stage pipeline:

• Admilparant (LPA1 for fibrotic disease): Leerink warned that upcoming Phase 3 results "could disappoint due to efficacy and/or safety issues."

  

• Milvexian (novel blood thinner): The firm expressed doubts about the drug’s performance in atrial fibrillation trials, noting it "could deliver questionable efficacy head-to-head versus BMY’s Eliquis (apixaban)."

• Cobenfy (antipsychotic): Even in a best-case clinical scenario, Leerink anticipates commercial hurdles. Risinger stated the treatment "may not be adopted much in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis (ADP) even if it succeeds in Phase 3 given provider utilization of off-label generic antipsychotics."

The revised outlook reflects a more cautious stance on Bristol-Myers’ ability to generate near-term commercial momentum from its clinical catalysts, as the company works to offset future revenue losses from impending patent expirations on its legacy blockbuster therapies.

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