By Michael Erman

July 31 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers Squibb BMY.N 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.N, 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 22UAy.DE, to be $6.35 to $6.65 a share. Analysts are estimating 2025 earnings of around $6.24 per share.

(Reporting by Michael ErmanEditing by Bill Berkrot)

((michael.erman@thomsonreuters.com;))