Gilead third-qtr sales beat expectations, but Sovaldi disappoints

There was mixed news late yesterday from US anti-virals major Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), when the biotech firm posted third-quarter 2014 financial results that beat analysts’ expectations, but sales of its relatively new mega-blockbuster hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) were lower than expected, down 20% from the prior quarter. Shares fell 3.9% to $109.05 in after-hours trading yesterday in New York

Total revenues more than doubled to $6.04 billion compared to $2.78 billion for the third quarter of 2013, beating consensus analysts’ expectations of $5.99. Product sales for the third quarter increased to $5.97 billion compared to $2.71 billion in the like year ago period. Gilead raised the bottom end of its 2014 forecast for net product sales, now projecting $22 billion to $23 billion from $21 billion to $23 billion in July.