20 most profitable companies

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a pure biotechnology-pharmaceutical after two years of transformation. As it moves away from selling health-care products, the company is cutting $2.5 billion in costs by 2012.

It's also spinning off old businesses, like Mead Johnson Nutritionals. Bristol-Myers earned $7.2 billion from the Mead IPO in 2009, which helped more than double profits.

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