Gilead Profit Tops Estimates

(RTTNews) - Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) Tuesday reported a better-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter profit, on rising sales of HIV drugs Stribild and Complera/Eviplera, and contribution from Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi.

The results come as Gilead increasingly benefits from relatively newer HIV drugs while traditional therapies Atripla and Truvada see some softness.

Gilead's drug portfolio got a boost after the FDA in December approved Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) 400 mg tablets - a once-daily oral drug, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection as a component of a combination antiviral treatment regimen. In the few weeks since its approval, the drug chipped in with sales of $139.4 million.

In a statement, Gilead said Sovaldi sales were led by initial inventory stocking, patient demand and a clinical trial order. The company is hoping to benefit immensely from this drug, which is still pending approval in other countries.

Meanwhile, sales of Stribild grew five-fold to about $204 million for the quarter. Stribild was introduced in the U.S. in August 2012. Sales of Complera/Eviplera surged 122 percent to $262 million.

HIV and chronic hepatitis B drug Viread sales rose 18 percent to $267 million, while that of Cardiovascular products - Letairis and Ranexa - climbed 25 percent to $268.5 million.

Sales of Atripla edged up 2 percent to $933.6 million, while Truvada fell 2 percent to $814 million, year-over-year.

Overall, the Foster City, California-based company posted fourth-quarter sales of $3.12 billion, up 21 percent from $2.59 billion in the prior year. Twenty-six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a consensus sales estimate of $2.86 billion for the quarter.

But margins were lower as the company expended on research and sales activities. Product gross margin for the quarter receded to 71.8 percent from 73.2 percent last year and operating margin to 38.4 percent from 42.8 percent.

Gilead posted quarterly net income of $791.4 million, compared with $762.5 million last year. On a per share basis, earnings were unchanged from last year at $0.47 due to a higher share count.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $929.8 million or $0.55 per share, compared with $823.4 million or $0.50 per share a year ago. On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

For fiscal year 2014, Gilead projects revenues of $11.3 billion to $11.5 billion, excluding Sovaldi sales. Analysts estimate revenues of $14.56 billion.

The company also indicated full year 2014 earnings to be impacted by $0.63 - $0.66 per share, linked to acquisition-related, restructuring and stock-based compensation expenses.

Gilead stock closed Tuesday at $82.03, up $3.20 or 4.06%, on a volume of 13.6 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped $0.51 or 0.62% at $81.52. In the past year, the stock has traded in the range of $39.48 - $84.40.