By Mackenzie Tatananni
Gilead Sciences beat analysts' earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarter. The stock slipped anyway.
Starting with the positives: The California-based drugmaker posted revenue of $6.96 billion for the first quarter, edging past analysts' calls for $6.91 billion. Gilead logged adjusted earnings of $2.03 a share, ahead of the $1.91 consensus among analysts polled by FactSet.
Gilead's top-line growth rested heavily on Biktarvy, its blockbuster HIV treatment, which accounted for nearly half of total revenue as sales rose 8% to $3.4 billion.
Buoyed by the quarterly beat, the drugmaker hiked its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $30 billion to $30.4 billion, up from a prior forecast of $29.6 billion to $30 billion. Analysts were looking for $30.2 billion.
Gilead also guided to $1 billion in revenue for Yeztugo, its twice-daily injection to prevent HIV infections. The new figure is sharply higher than the $200 million Gilead previously forecast.
Shares fell 1% to $132.60 in the Friday premarket. The move could have something to do with the rest of the updated guidance: Gilead said it now expects to record an adjusted loss of 65 cents to $1.05 a share, compared with earlier calls for earnings of $8.45 to $8.85 a share.
And while Gilead's HIV portfolio was a standout -- as expected -- in the quarter, posting 10% growth, other products didn't fare as well. Sales of Veklury, Gilead's Covid-19 antiviral, plunged 52% to $144 million in the quarter.
Gilead attributed the change to lower rates of COVID-19-related hospitalizations. Excluding Veklury, product sales rose 8% to $6.8 billion.
Other laggards included Gilead's treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus, which is sold under the brand name Epclusa. The prescription antiviral brought in $283 million in the latest quarter, versus $346 million last year. Revenue for Gilead's cell therapy portfolio also softened, falling roughly 12% to $407 million from $464 million in 2025.
Investors remain focused on Gilead's HIV portfolio, which has an outsize contribution to its top line. The company has been on an acquisition spree this year as it looks to reduce its long-term reliance on HIV revenue.
Shares of Arcellx, a Maryland-based drug developer, rallied in February after Gilead agreed to purchase it for $7.8 billion. Gilead already works with the biotech through a subsidiary to co-develop and co-commercialize anitocabtagene autoleucel, Arcellx's lead pipeline candidate.
At the end of March, Gilead agreed to buy privately held Ouro Medicine to bolster its own autoimmune portfolio with Ouro's lead clinical-stage drug candidate. Just last month, the company struck a deal to acquire Tubulis GmbH in a bid to expand its capabilities in antibody-drug conjugates.
The updated guidance accounts for an anticipated $11.5 billion charge and additional financing costs related to those transactions, Gilead said.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
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May 08, 2026 04:10 ET (08:10 GMT)
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