By Deena Beasley
LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences on Thursday posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit and raised its outlook for 2026 sales, but said it now expects a loss for the year due to charges and financing costs related to recent acquisitions.
The drugmaker raised its estimate for 2026 sales of HIV prevention drug Yeztugo, which was launched in the U.S. last year, to $1 billion from a previous $800 million. First-quarter sales of the drug totaled $166 million, beating the $143 million forecast by Wall Street, according to LSEG data.
Sales of Descovy, an HIV pill that is also used to prevent the infection, jumped 38% to $807 million.
Gilead’s “solid quarter and guidance raise should provide reassurance in their confidence in the core HIV/PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) business, though some might be slightly disappointed that the beat was driven by Descovy rather than Yeztugo” RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said in a research note.
The launch of Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injection with a U.S. list price of over $28,000, is going well as clinics work through adopting their processes to use the injection, CEO Daniel O’Day said.
U.S. health providers have said that not all patients are interested in the new option and those who want to try it can face insurance coverage gaps. Gilead said its once-yearly, still experimental version of Yeztugo could be on the market as soon as 2028.
Shares of Gilead, which closed off 1.6% in regular trading, were down about 3% further to $129.99 after hours.
Gilead raised its overall 2026 sales outlook by $400 million to a range of $30 billion to $30.4 billion. It now expects an adjusted loss for the year of $1.05 to $0.65 a share, compared with a previous profit estimate of $8.45 to $8.85, due to deals to acquire cell therapy company Arcellx, autoimmune drug developer Ouro Medicines and cancer drug developer Tubulis.
Excluding an $11.5 billion charge to be taken in the second quarter for those deals, Gilead’s earnings forecast would be unchanged, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Dickinson said in an interview.
For the first quarter, Gilead posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.03, beating the average analyst estimate by 12 cents, according to LSEG data.
Revenue rose 4% to $6.96 billion, ahead of Wall Street expectations of $6.91 billion.
Quarterly sales of HIV drug Biktarvy rose 7% to $3.36 billion, slightly higher than analysts’ estimates of $3.32 billion.
Gilead said sales in its liver disease portfolio rose 1% to $767 million, while sales of cell therapy products fell 12% to $407 million, reflecting more competition. Sales of cancer drug Trodelvy rose 37% to $402 million.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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