<div id="readability-page-1"><div> <h2>Key Points</h2><ul><li>Last quarter, Millennium Management increased its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by over 5.8 million shares.</li><li>This could be a sign that the multi-strategy hedge fund sees better times ahead for the pharmaceutical giant.</li><li>BMY's game plan to mitigate the pain of patent expirations could help drive a further recovery for the stock.</li><li>10 stocks we like better than Bristol Myers Squibb ›</li></ul>Israel &#34;Izzy&#34; Englander may not be a household name, but he's one of America's wealthiest investors, with a net worth of around $26.5 billion. Englander made his fortune as founder and manager of Millennium Management, a multi-strategy hedge fund with over $87 billion in assets under management .Given its enormous capital base and multi-strategy approach, it's not surprising that the fund's 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) list thousands of equity positions. However, among these positions, one stands out as a stock that Englander and his fund appear to be highly bullish on: Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY).Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an &#34;Indispensable Monopoly&#34; providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »Last quarter, Millennium materially increased its position in the company. Although this position accounts for only a tiny portion of its overall portfolio, this &#34;smart money&#34; investor's big buy suggests better times ahead for this pharmaceutical stock, which has been weighed down by upcoming patent expirations for several of its blockbuster drugs.<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg3MjI3OC9iaW90ZWNoLXBoYXJtYS1yZXNlYXJjaGVycy10YWxrLWxhYi0xMjAweDgwMC01YjJkZjc5LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="700" height="467" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg3MjI3OC9iaW90ZWNoLXBoYXJtYS1yZXNlYXJjaGVycy10YWxrLWxhYi0xMjAweDgwMC01YjJkZjc5LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA"/>Image source: Getty Images. <h2>Millennium upped its Bristol Myers Squibb position last quarter</h2>According to Millennium's Q1 2026 13F filing, the hedge fund increased its position by 5.8 million shares, from 743,659 to 6,545,442 shares. Even as this position makes up less than a fifth of 1% of the fund's assets under management, last quarter's bullish shift suggests that the fund manager believes the pharma company's shares could make a further recovery.In fact, during Q1 2026, it appeared as though Bristol Myers Squibb was en route to a recovery. From late 2025 to early 2026, the stock surged by around 25%. A major factor driving this surge may have included a promising quarterly earnings release, which, alongside better-than-expected results, unveiled guidance that also exceeded investor expectations.Since then, however, Bristol Myers shares have pulled back but remain up by around 1% year to date. The company once again exceeded expectations with its results. Also, Bristol Myers Squibb reiterated its full-year guidance, calling for revenue of $46 billion to $47.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $6.05 to $6.35.However, it's possible that uncertainty surrounding the pending patent expiration for Eliquis, one of the company's top-selling drugs, has led to the recent wave of weakness. So, is Millennium's bullish thesis, as I understand it, breaking? Not necessarily, as the pharmaceutical giant continues its game plan to mitigate the impact of its key near-term headwind.<h2>Should you follow suit?</h2>For the past several years, Bristol Myers Squibb has contended with a major patent cliff, or the expiration of patent exclusivity for not one but several of its top-selling branded drug products. As patents expire, generic drugmakers become free to enter the market. This typically leads to declining sales for the original patented and branded product.Previously, the company appeared to have recovered from the impact of losing patent exclusivity for its multiple myeloma therapy, Revlimid. Bristol Myers' revenue declined in 2023 but surged to above 2022 levels by 2024, with adjusted earnings recovering in 2025.This time, however, Bristol Myers Squibb is on the verge of losing exclusivity on several blockbuster drugs, including blood thinner Eliquis and cancer treatment Opdivo. Still, as with the last time the company faced a patent cliff, measures to mitigate the damage could prove effective. For example, creating variations of Opdivo may help to partially extend its patent exclusivity.The company is also utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to both reduce costs and to speed up clinical development times for its drug candidate pipeline.Only time will tell whether these efforts work, but the risk/reward appears favorable. Currently, the stock trades for less than 9 times earnings, and has a 4.6% forward dividend yield to boot. With uncertainty factored so much into its valuation, even a small amount of positive surprises could propel this healthcare stock back to higher price levels.<h2>Should you buy stock in Bristol Myers Squibb right now?</h2> Before you buy stock in Bristol Myers Squibb, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bristol Myers Squibb wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $439,847!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,342,065!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 968% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&amp;P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 5, 2026. Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol Myers Squibb. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. </div></div>

Millennium Management, led by billionaire Izzy Englander, significantly increased its stake in Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) by 5.8 million shares in Q1 2026. This bullish move suggests confidence in the pharma giant's recovery despite upcoming patent expirations for key drugs like Eliquis and Opdivo. BMY has recently exceeded earnings expectations and reiterated strong full-year guidance. The fund views the stock's low valuation and high dividend yield as favorable risk/reward opportunities amid efforts to mitigate patent cliff impacts through AI and pipeline development.

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Bristol Myers Squibb

Billionaire Izzy Englander Just Made a Big Bet on This Beaten-Down High-Yield Dividend Stock