By Senad Karaahmetovic
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) shares are trading about 5% higher in pre-open trading after the company topped analyst consensus for Q3 and raised its profit guidance.
Gilead posted a Q3 EPS of $1.90 on revenue of $7 billion to smash the analyst consensus for EPS of $1.52 on sales of $6.13 billion. The beat prompted GILD to raise its full-year forecast for the adjusted EPS to a region of $6.95 to $7.15 from the prior $6.35 to $6.75. Analysts were looking for $6.53.
Gilead also raised its product sales forecast to a range of $25.9 billion to $26.2 from the prior $25.9-26.2 billion range.
“This was another very strong quarter across the business… Overall, we are seeing terrific progress from a commercial and clinical perspective and look forward to building on this momentum,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences, Daniel O’Day said.
GILD shares received two upgrades after earnings with Piper Sandler analysts raising to Overweight from Neutral, citing improved commercial and clinical outlook.
“Multiple roadblocks have cleared for Gilead's HIV and oncology franchises, providing greater visibility on future revenue growth. We believe the late-stage pipeline has lower clinical risk, given lenacapavir and magrolimab clinical holds were lifted, with both Phase 3 programs back on track,” they said in a note.
The analysts also hiked the price target to $96 from $79 per share and stated that Gilead shares are undervalued.
Similarly, Truist Securities analysts upgraded Gilead from Hold to Buy with a new price target of $91.00, up from $76.00. The analysts believe that Gilead has a “unique” oncology platform.
"Oncology is where we are differentiated vs. the street; between Trodelvy and RCUS partnership which could potentially give them a chemo-free triplet regimen for lung cancer, we believe GILD has a unique oncology platform; we expect the pipeline to continue to emerge and grow over the next 12-18 months," the analysts wrote.