Why Gilead Sciences Whiffed in Q1

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 12:10AM EST · Published May 2, 8:45AM EDT

Why Gilead Sciences Whiffed in Q1 — © Thinkstock

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) released its first-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday.

The company said that it had $1.48 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.09 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $1.67 in EPS on revenue of $5.4 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.63 and $5.34 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, product sales were $3.5 billion in the United States, $1.0 billion in Europe and $469 million in other locations. Antiviral product sales, a subset that includes sales of HIV, chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and chronic hepatitis C (HCV) products, totaled $4.4 billion for the quarter:

HIV and HBV product sales were $3,329 million for the first quarter of 2018 compared to $3,265 million for the same period in 2017. The increase was primarily due to the continued uptake of tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-based products, which include Genvoya, Descovy and Odefsey.

HCV product sales, which consist of Epclusa, Harvoni, Vosevi and Sovaldi, were $1,046 million for the first quarter of 2018 compared to $2,576 million for the same period in 2017. The decline was primarily due to lower sales of Harvoni and Sovaldi across all major markets and lower sales of Epclusa in the United States as a result of increased competition.

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Also in this quarter, the board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.57 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2018. The dividend is payable on June 28 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 15.

Looking ahead to the 2018 full year, the company expects to see revenues in the range of $20.0 billion to $21.0 billion and gross margin in the range of 85% to 87%. The consensus estimates call for $6.47 in EPS on $21.29 billion in revenue for the full year.

On the books, Gilead’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $32.1 billion at the end of the quarter, down from $36.7 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Shares of Gilead closed Tuesday at $72.56, with a consensus analyst price target of $89.05 and a 52-week range of $63.76 to $89.54. Following the announcement, the stock was down nearly 6% at $68.32 in early trading indications Wednesday.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.