Health and Healthcare

Gilead Stumbles Despite Solid Earnings Beat

Chris Lange

Published: October 26, 2018 11:30 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 3:48 pm

When Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) reported its third-quarter financial results late Thursday, the leading biotech company said that it had $1.84 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.60 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $1.63 in EPS and revenue of $5.37 billion, and the same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $2.27 on $6.51 billion in revenue.

During the most recent quarter, HIV product sales were $3.7 billion, compared to $3.3 billion for the same period in 2017. The increase was primarily due to the continued uptake of products containing emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide, which include Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Odefsey.

Chronic hepatitis C product sales, which consist of Epclusa, Harvoni, Vosevi and Sovaldi, were $902 million, versus $2.2 billion for the same period in 2017. The decline was primarily due to lower sales of Harvoni and Epclusa across all major markets as a result of increased competition.

Other product sales, which include products from Gilead’s chronic hepatitis B, cardiovascular, oncology and other categories, pegged at $751 million, down from $874 million last year.

At the end of the quarter, Gilead had $30.8 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, down from to $31.7 billion in the June quarter.

Gilead updated its guidance for the 2018 full year. The company now expects to see net product sales in the range of $20.80 billion to $21.30 billion, with a gross margin of 85% to 87%. Consensus estimates call for $6.62 in EPS and $21.43 billion in revenue for the year.

Shares of Gilead were last seen down 1% at $67.92, with a consensus analyst price target of $87.11 and a 52-week trading range of $64.27 to $89.54.