By Jonathan D. Rockoff
Gilead Sciences Inc. is scheduled to report earnings Tuesday
afternoon. Here's what you need to know.
EARNINGS FORECAST: Net income of $1.92 is the consensus of
analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, compared with 52 cents
reported in the same period a year earlier. Gilead didn't give
guidance for the third quarter or for the full year.
REVENUE FORECAST: The consensus among analysts is Gilead will
report $6 billion in revenue, compared with $2.8 billion reported
in the same quarter a year earlier.
WHAT TO WATCH:
--HOW WELL IS HARVONI LAUNCHING: Gilead won approval on Oct. 10
to sell a new hepatitis C drug, dubbed Harvoni, which many doctors
and patients were waiting for. Analysts have strong expectations
for the pill, partly based on the success of its older brother
Sovaldi. Although the pill wasn't on sale during the third quarter,
Gilead executives will likely face questions about how its launch
is going.
--HOW HIGH DID SOVALDI GO: No drug has ever had a bigger launch
than Gilead's hepatitis C pill Sovaldi, which rang up $5.75 billion
in sales during the first half of this year, its first two full
quarters on sale. But doctors and patients were expected to limit
use as Harvoni's approval neared. How did Sovaldi do?
--HOW ARE THE HIV PRODUCTS DOING: Gilead made its bones selling
therapies for HIV, and products including Atripla, Truvada and
Viread remain key to the company's performance. One of its newest
HIV treatments, Stribild, was approved two years ago, and
prescriptions for the drug suggest it might score $267 million in
quarterly sales, $16 million above consensus, according to Leerink
Swann.
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