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Should You Buy, Sell or Hold GILD Stock Post Q1 Earnings Miss?
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Last week, biotech bigwig Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Free Report) reported lower-than-expected first-quarter 2025 results. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss per share of $1.32.
Total revenues of $6.7 billion also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.8 billion. Revenues were roughly flat year over year as lower Veklury (remdesivir) and oncology sales were offset by higher HIV and Liver Disease sales.
Two key drugs in GILD’s portfolio — flagship HIV therapy Biktarvy and breast cancer drug Trodelvy — missed sales expectations.
The revenue miss disappointed investors as GILD has been a consistent outperformer. Consequently, the stock has been trading down since the announcement.
Nonetheless, a single quarter’s results should not affect long-term investors. Instead, the focus should be on the company’s fundamentals. Let's delve into GILD’s strengths and weaknesses to better analyze how to play the stock in the post-earnings scenario.
GILD’s Leading HIV Franchise Will Continue Its Momentum
Gilead has a market-leading portfolio of HIV treatments. HIV product sales contributed $4.6 billion to GILD’s top line in the first quarter.
While Biktarvy sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, they increased 7% year over year to $3.15 billion, driven by higher demand. However, the expected headwinds associated with the Medicare Part D redesign partly offset this.
Nevertheless, Biktarvy accounts for over 51% share of the treatment market in the United States and should maintain momentum for GILD in the upcoming quarters.
Descovy (FTC 200 mg/TAF 25 mg) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is also witnessing good uptake. It maintains over 40% market share in the PrEP market in the United States.
Gilead’s efforts to innovate its HIV portfolio are impressive. The company’s pipeline candidate, lenacapavir, demonstrated 100% efficacy for the investigational use of HIV prevention in cisgender women. The FDA accepted new drug application submissions for twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention under priority review, with a target action date of June 19, 2025.
The European Medicines Agency validated the Marketing Authorization Application and EU-Medicines for All application for twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention.
The successful development and potential approval of lenacapavir for the prevention of the disease should solidify Gilead’s HIV franchise. Per GILD, lenacapavir, with its twice-yearly dosing, could set a new bar for HIV prevention and allow PrEP to reach a larger number of people who could benefit from a prevention regimen.
Livdelzi Approval Strengthens GILD’s Portfolio
The FDA approval of seladelpar for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has strengthened GILD’s liver disease portfolio and validated its CymaBay acquisition. The drug's initial uptake is encouraging.
The candidate was approved under the brand name Livdelzi. Gilead also recently received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for seladelpar for the treatment of PBC.
Challenges for GILD’s Oncology Business
Gilead’s oncology portfolio, comprising the Cell Therapy franchise and breast cancer drug Trodelvy, has diversified its overall business. However, the Cell Therapy franchise, comprising Yescarta and Tecartus, is currently under pressure due to competitive headwinds in the United States and Europe that are expected to continue in 2025.
Breast cancer drug Trodelvy’s sales were lower than expected in the first quarter due to inventory dynamics.
On a positive note, the potential launch of anito-cel in multiple myeloma and Trodelvy in first-line metastatic triple negative breast cancer in 2026 will strengthen the company’s oncology business.
GILD’s Stock Price, Valuation and Estimate Revision
Shares of this biotech giant have gained 13.6% year to date against the industry’s decline of 3.5%. The stock has outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 Index in this timeframe.
Gilead Outperforms Industry & Sector
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, GILD is not expensive. According to the price/earnings ratio, GILD’s shares currently trade at 12.80x forward earnings, lower than the large-cap pharma industry’s average of 15.77X and its mean of 13.04.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The bottom-line estimate for 2025 has decreased to $7.91 from $7.92 while that for 2026 has increased from $8.39 to $8.69 over the past seven days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stay Invested in GILD
Large biotech companies are generally considered safe havens for investors interested in this sector as they are well equipped to weather the uncertain macroenvironment.
GILD is one of the dominant players in the HIV market. Gilead’s efforts to constantly innovate its HIV portfolio should enable it to maintain growth amid competition from GSK plc (GSK - Free Report) . GILD has also collaborated with Merck (MRK - Free Report) to evaluate the investigational combination of islatravir and lenacapavir for the treatment of HIV. The potential launch of lenacapavir for PrEP in 2025 will be a significant boost for the company.
Gilead’s strategic deals and acquisitions to diversify its business are encouraging. Despite the disappointing performance in the first quarter, GILD reiterated its guidance on a non-GAAP business.
However, we advise prospective investors to wait and watch how well Biktarvy and the oncology business combat the existing headwinds before making a positive investment decision.
For investors already owning the stock, it’s important to note that Gilead has been consistently increasing and paying out dividends. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2025. Its strong cash position (as of March 31, 2025, GILD had $7.9 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable debt securities) indicates that the current yield of 2.97% is sustainable.
Image: Shutterstock
Should You Buy, Sell or Hold GILD Stock Post Q1 Earnings Miss?
Last week, biotech bigwig Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Free Report) reported lower-than-expected first-quarter 2025 results. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss per share of $1.32.
Total revenues of $6.7 billion also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.8 billion. Revenues were roughly flat year over year as lower Veklury (remdesivir) and oncology sales were offset by higher HIV and Liver Disease sales.
Two key drugs in GILD’s portfolio — flagship HIV therapy Biktarvy and breast cancer drug Trodelvy — missed sales expectations.
The revenue miss disappointed investors as GILD has been a consistent outperformer. Consequently, the stock has been trading down since the announcement.
Nonetheless, a single quarter’s results should not affect long-term investors. Instead, the focus should be on the company’s fundamentals. Let's delve into GILD’s strengths and weaknesses to better analyze how to play the stock in the post-earnings scenario.
GILD’s Leading HIV Franchise Will Continue Its Momentum
Gilead has a market-leading portfolio of HIV treatments. HIV product sales contributed $4.6 billion to GILD’s top line in the first quarter.
While Biktarvy sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, they increased 7% year over year to $3.15 billion, driven by higher demand. However, the expected headwinds associated with the Medicare Part D redesign partly offset this.
Nevertheless, Biktarvy accounts for over 51% share of the treatment market in the United States and should maintain momentum for GILD in the upcoming quarters.
Descovy (FTC 200 mg/TAF 25 mg) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is also witnessing good uptake. It maintains over 40% market share in the PrEP market in the United States.
Gilead’s efforts to innovate its HIV portfolio are impressive. The company’s pipeline candidate, lenacapavir, demonstrated 100% efficacy for the investigational use of HIV prevention in cisgender women. The FDA accepted new drug application submissions for twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention under priority review, with a target action date of June 19, 2025.
The European Medicines Agency validated the Marketing Authorization Application and EU-Medicines for All application for twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention.
The successful development and potential approval of lenacapavir for the prevention of the disease should solidify Gilead’s HIV franchise. Per GILD, lenacapavir, with its twice-yearly dosing, could set a new bar for HIV prevention and allow PrEP to reach a larger number of people who could benefit from a prevention regimen.
Livdelzi Approval Strengthens GILD’s Portfolio
The FDA approval of seladelpar for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has strengthened GILD’s liver disease portfolio and validated its CymaBay acquisition. The drug's initial uptake is encouraging.
The candidate was approved under the brand name Livdelzi. Gilead also recently received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for seladelpar for the treatment of PBC.
Challenges for GILD’s Oncology Business
Gilead’s oncology portfolio, comprising the Cell Therapy franchise and breast cancer drug Trodelvy, has diversified its overall business. However, the Cell Therapy franchise, comprising Yescarta and Tecartus, is currently under pressure due to competitive headwinds in the United States and Europe that are expected to continue in 2025.
Breast cancer drug Trodelvy’s sales were lower than expected in the first quarter due to inventory dynamics.
On a positive note, the potential launch of anito-cel in multiple myeloma and Trodelvy in first-line metastatic triple negative breast cancer in 2026 will strengthen the company’s oncology business.
GILD’s Stock Price, Valuation and Estimate Revision
Shares of this biotech giant have gained 13.6% year to date against the industry’s decline of 3.5%. The stock has outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 Index in this timeframe.
Gilead Outperforms Industry & Sector
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, GILD is not expensive. According to the price/earnings ratio, GILD’s shares currently trade at 12.80x forward earnings, lower than the large-cap pharma industry’s average of 15.77X and its mean of 13.04.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The bottom-line estimate for 2025 has decreased to $7.91 from $7.92 while that for 2026 has increased from $8.39 to $8.69 over the past seven days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stay Invested in GILD
Large biotech companies are generally considered safe havens for investors interested in this sector as they are well equipped to weather the uncertain macroenvironment.
GILD is one of the dominant players in the HIV market. Gilead’s efforts to constantly innovate its HIV portfolio should enable it to maintain growth amid competition from GSK plc (GSK - Free Report) . GILD has also collaborated with Merck (MRK - Free Report) to evaluate the investigational combination of islatravir and lenacapavir for the treatment of HIV. The potential launch of lenacapavir for PrEP in 2025 will be a significant boost for the company.
Gilead’s strategic deals and acquisitions to diversify its business are encouraging. Despite the disappointing performance in the first quarter, GILD reiterated its guidance on a non-GAAP business.
However, we advise prospective investors to wait and watch how well Biktarvy and the oncology business combat the existing headwinds before making a positive investment decision.
For investors already owning the stock, it’s important to note that Gilead has been consistently increasing and paying out dividends. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2025. Its strong cash position (as of March 31, 2025, GILD had $7.9 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable debt securities) indicates that the current yield of 2.97% is sustainable.
Gilead currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.