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.

Net income was $2.73 billion, or $1.67 per diluted share compared to $788.6 million or $0.47 per diluted share for the like quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net income for the third quarter, which excludes acquisition-related, restructuring and stock-based compensation expenses, was $3.01 billion, or $1.84 per diluted share compared to $879.1 million or $0.52 per diluted share a year ago, falling short of consensus estimates of $1.92. Excluding the $0.21 impact of the non-tax deductible BPD cumulative catch-up fee, non-GAAP diluted EPS would have been $2.05 for the third quarter of 2014, the company noted.