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what it is
Gilead makes and sells prescription drugs for HIV, cancer, hepatitis, and other serious diseases.
how it gets paid
Last year Gilead Sciences made $29.4B in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 2.4% last year. At the bottom line, last year’s pershare profit number was impaired by $1.8 billion in in-process r&d expenses, and $500,000 of acquired in-house r&d impairments.
what just happened
Gilead beat estimates by 5.08%, but says the cleaner story was weaker than the headline.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
17.6x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
2.7% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
24.5% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 68/100 — average
What they do
Gilead makes and sells prescription drugs for HIV, cancer, hepatitis, and other serious diseases.
Gilead spends 22.7% of sales on R&D (research spending → future drugs → the pipeline stays stocked) and still posts a 41.5% operating margin (profit after running the business → very high → pricing power is real). Return on capital is 24.5% (profit from invested money → how well management turns dollars into earnings → strong), which says the company is not just big, it is efficient. If your treatment is already working, switching is painful, and Gilead’s long list of marketed drugs keeps that relationship sticky.
How they make money
$29.4B
annual revenue · their business grew +2.4% last year
total revenue
$29.4B
+2.4%
The products that matter
flagship HIV therapy
Biktarvy
$14.3B · 49% of revenue · +7% from last year
it's the center of gravity. At $14.3B in annual sales, this one product generates nearly half of company revenue and still grew 7%.
49% of revenue
twice-yearly HIV injection
Lenacapavir (Yeztugo)
new launch · prevention entry
this is the product transition the market cares about. It launched as a twice-yearly HIV shot, and its success matters because the HIV franchise already generates $20.8B a year.
transition bet
oncology portfolio
Trodelvy & CAR-T
$3.2B segment · -2% from last year
Trodelvy grew 6% to $1.4B, but the broader oncology segment still fell 2%. After a $21B Immunomedics deal, you want this segment doing more than treading water.
mixed returns
Key numbers
41.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after day-to-day costs → so what: Gilead keeps about $0.42 from each sales dollar before interest and taxes.
24.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on the money invested in the business → so what: this is a high-quality operator, not just a patent warehouse.
17.6x
trailing p/e
P/E → price divided by earnings → so what: you are not paying a luxury multiple for a company with an A balance sheet and 27.1% net margin.
2.7%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash paid to you each year relative to the stock price → so what: you get paid while management tries to turn pipeline hopes into sales.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 90 / 100
- long-term debt $22.1B (13% of capital)
- net profit margin 27.1% — keeps 27 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 34% — $0.34 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in GILD 3 years ago → it's now worth $15,370.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Gilead beat estimates by 5.08%, but says the cleaner story was weaker than the headline.
Yahoo consensus says last earnings were $1.86 a share versus $1.77 expected. Value Line says Q3 core product sales, which were 95% of total sales, still fell 2.3% to $7.35 billion while non-core revenue flattered the top line.
$7.7B
implied q3 revenue
$1.86
reported eps
2.3%
core sales change
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was not the EPS beat. It was the 2.3% drop in core product sales, because that bucket is 95% of revenue.
-
gilead’s third-quarter results weren’t as good as they appeared.
-
that’s because core product sales (95% of the total) actually declined by 2.3% to $7.35 billion.
-
non-core contract royalty and other revenues (5% of sales) pushed the top line higher.at the bottom line, last year’s pershare profit number was impaired by $1.8 billion in in-process r&d expenses, and $500,000 of acquired in-house r&d impairments.
-
absent these costs, last year’s share earnings tally would have been $2.27, not that much lower than this year’s tally of $2.43.
-
sales growth at the flagship hiv and hcv segments is slowing.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is the Biktarvy-to-lenacapavir transition.
med
lenacapavir could cannibalize before it compounds
Biktarvy already generates $14.3B. If the new twice-yearly shot mostly shifts existing patients rather than adding new demand, Gilead is replacing one dollar with another instead of growing the franchise.
That pressure would hit the business where it hurts most: HIV is $20.8B of revenue, or 71% of the company.
med
patent cliffs still matter even if they feel far away
Key antiviral products will not stay protected forever. When exclusivity weakens, pricing power usually weakens with it.
That matters because the current cash engine is concentrated in HIV, and Biktarvy alone accounts for 49% of total company revenue.
med
oncology still has not earned its keep
Gilead paid $21B for Immunomedics. Trodelvy reached $1.4B and grew 6%, but the broader oncology segment still fell 2% as competition picked up.
If oncology stays stuck around $3.2B, the diversification case remains thinner than the market wants.
med
reported growth can look healthier than core demand
In the latest quarter, core product sales were 95% of the total and still fell 2.3% to $7.35B, while smaller non-core revenue lines helped the headline number.
If that keeps happening, the multiple will keep treating Gilead like a mature business rather than a reaccelerating one.
A misstep here is not a side issue. It puts pressure on the $20.8B HIV franchise that funds almost everything else.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
key metric
HIV growth staying above the current 6%
If the core franchise keeps growing while Gilead launches lenacapavir, the transition looks additive instead of defensive.
launch watch
lenacapavir adoption after launch
You want evidence of new patient capture, not just switches away from Biktarvy.
trend
core product sales after the 2.3% drop
One soft quarter is noise. A pattern would mean the underlying business is slowing faster than the headline suggests.
risk
oncology proving the $21B spend was worth it
Trodelvy is growing, but the full oncology segment is not. You need more than one bright spot in a $3.2B business.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts see a stock behaving normally, not breaking away on fundamentals yet.
risk profile
above average
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks. This is a product-transition story, not a balance-sheet emergency.
chart momentum
top 5%
technical score 1 — the chart has been strong even while the fundamental debate stays unresolved.
earnings predictability
20 / 100
low predictability means quarterly numbers can swing on pipeline spend, product mix, and one-off items. Expect a few messy prints.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 966 buyers vs. 825 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 1.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$97
$170
$120
current price
$134
target midpoint · +12% from current · 3-5yr high: $160 (+35% · 10% ann'l return)
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