Gilead second-quarter sales rise 8%, beating Wall Street estimates

By Deena Beasley and Puyaan Singh

Aug 4 (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences on Tuesday reported second-quarter product sales rose 8%, led by double-digit gains for its HIV drugs, but it posted a quarterly loss due to costs related to a series of acquisitions.

The company’s overall revenue rose 10% to $7.8 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $7.4 billion, according to LSEG data. Gilead cited strong sales of HIV products, cancer drug Trodelvy and liver disease drug Livdelzi for the results.

“HIV sales grew 12%, reflecting continued strength in treatment and the rapid expansion of our PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) business, supporting an increase in our base business revenue expectations for 2026,” Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day said in a statement.

Gilead also expects 9% to 10% growth in annual HIV product sales, up from prior its expectation of an 8% rise. However, Chief Commercial and Corporate Affairs Officer Johanna Mercier said the HIV treatment market in the quarter was impacted by a rise in uninsured patients as pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies expired.

The company expects a 2026 adjusted loss of 65 cents to 30 cents per share, compared with a previous range of $1.65 to 65 cents loss. It now sees sales of $30.1 billion to $30.4 billion versus a previous view of $30 billion to $30.4 billion.

For the second quarter, Gilead posted an adjusted loss per share of $6.75, while Wall Street analysts, on average, expected a loss of $7.24. The net loss for the quarter was $8.45 a share.

Gilead had previously flagged a $9.08 per share charge resulting from deals to acquire cell therapy company Arcellx, autoimmune drug developer Ouro Medicines and ​cancer drug developer Tubulis.

Sales for the quarter of HIV prevention drug Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injection launched in the U.S. last year, totaled $232 million, exceeding analysts’ estimate of $210 million. Gilead said the sales reinforce its confidence that the drug will achieve $1 billion in full-year sales.

Quarterly sales of Descovy, an older HIV pill that is also used to prevent infection, jumped by a ​stronger-than-expected 48% to $967 million. Sales of Yeztugo and Descovy together crossed $1 billion for the first time, with Gilead expecting them to hit $4 billion in 2026.

Sales of HIV ​drug Biktarvy rose 7% to $3.8 billion, higher than analysts’ estimates of $3.63 ​billion.

Gilead said sales in its liver disease portfolio rose 10% to $877 million, while cell therapy product sales fell 14% to $417 million, reflecting more competition.

Sales ​of cancer drug Trodelvy rose 26% to $457 million, while COVID drug Veklury saw sales plunge 81% to $23 million.

In a win for Gilead, California’s highest court ​on Monday ordered the dismissal of negligence claims prompted by the company’s decision more than 20 years ago to stop developing an HIV drug believed to have a safety advantage over other options available at that time.

(Reporting By Deena Beasley in Los Angeles and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot)