By Tess Stynes
Gilead Sciences Inc.'s (GILD) fourth-quarter earnings rose 15%
as the biopharmaceutical company reported double-digit revenue
growth, mostly driven by strong sales of its HIV drugs.
Shares were up 2.3% % at $40.49 in recent after-hours trading
Monday as adjusted earnings and revenue beat expectations. Through
the close, the stock is down 3.8% from an all-time high of $41.14
on Friday.
Gilead's stock surged last year amid investor expectations for
its new four-in-one HIV treatment Stribild and the potential for
its investigational hepatitis C drugs. But the company also faces
major challenges as patents on more than a dozen of its drugs,
including several of its biggest sellers, expire over the next
decade.
Gilead earlier Monday said its experimental liver disease pill
was successful in two late-stage trials that will support a
regulatory filing to market the first noninjectable treatment for
hepatitis C. Gilead is still seen as the front-runner to bring a
new generation of hepatitis C drugs to market and the first to
capitalize on what is thought to be a multibillion-dollar
opportunity.
The company has been aggressively looking to broaden its drug
pipeline beyond the HIV and AIDS drugs that generate the vast
majority of its revenue. Gilead in December agreed to buy
Toronto-based YM BioSciences Inc. (YMI) for $510 million as it aims
to boost its cancer-drug portfolio. Gilead acquired hepatitis C
drug maker Pharmasett Inc. for $11 billion in January 2012.
For the latest quarter, Gilead reported a profit of $762.5
million, or 47 cents a share, up from $665.1 million, or 43 cents a
share, a year earlier. Excluding acquisition- and
restructuring-related charges, stock-based compensation expenses
and other items, adjusted earnings were up at 50 cents from 49
cents per share. Revenue increased 18% to $2.59 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently projected
earnings of 48 cents per share on revenue of $2.43 billion.
Operating margin rose to 42.8% from 39.4% amid the sales
growth.
Stribild, Gilead's newest HIV treatment, which was launched in
late August, contributed $40 million of sales in the latest
quarter.
Complera/Eviplera sales surged to $117.8 million from $19.7
million a year earlier, while sales of HIV drugs Atripla and
Truvada improved 6% and 12%, respectively.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@dowjones.com
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