4 key takeaways from Gilead Sciences Q1 earnings report

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) said on Thursday that its sales in the fiscal first quarter came in weaker than Wall Street estimates. Sales for its COVID-19 drug (Veklury), however, beat expectations.

1. Financial performance

Gilead reported £1.22 billion of earnings in the first quarter that translates to 98 pence per share. In the same quarter last year, it had posted £1.08 billion of earnings, or 88 pence per share. Adjusted for non-recurring items, the biopharmaceutical firm earned £1.49 per share in Q1 versus the year-ago figure of £1.20 per share.

2. Veklury sales

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Gilead generated £4.59 billion of sales in the recent quarter – a 16% annualised growth attributed primarily to sales of Veklury (Remdesivir). According to FactSet, experts had forecast £4.83 billion of sales for the American company in the first quarter and £1.49 of adjusted EPS.

Gilead valued its Veklury sales in Q1 at £1.08 billion versus roughly £1.43 billion in the prior quarter (Q4). In comparison, analysts had anticipated £1.03 billion of Veklury sales for Gilead in the first quarter. In a recent announcement, Gilead said it will donate 450 thousand doses of Veklury to India.

3. Guidance for the full financial year

For the full financial year, Gilead now forecasts up to £18.00 billion of total product sales. Veklury sales, it added, are expected between £1.43 and £2.15 billion. The Foster City-based company predicts up to £5.34 of adjusted EPS this year.

4. Chief Executive Daniel O’Day’s comments

CEO Daniel O’Day commented on the earnings report and said:

“We have made strong progress in this first quarter, with our new partnership with Merck in long-acting HIV therapies, two newly approved indications in the U.S. for Trodelvy in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and metastatic urothelial cancer, and the addition of Hepcludex to our portfolio. 2021 is a pivotal year for Gilead, with key milestones across our virology and oncology portfolios. We’re looking forward to advancing our pipeline of promising therapies in the coming months.”

Impact on the share price

Gilead shares were reported about 2.5% down in after-hours trading on Thursday. The stock is now exchanging hands at £44.56 per share. In comparison, it had started the year at a per-share price of £43.10.

Gilead Sciences performed fairly downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of roughly 10%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £57.63 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 655.51.