Written by StockNews.com

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) late Tuesday posted worse than expected first quarter earnings results and revenue, as sales of its HCV-focused drugs plummeted 40% from last year.

The Foster City, CA-based biopharmaceuticals giant reported Q1:

• earnings per share (EPS) of $2.23, which was $0.05 worse than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $2.28 [and that]
• revenues fell 16.5% from last year to $6.5 billion, also missing analysts’ view for $6.62 billion.
• HIV and HBV product sales were $3.3 billion, up 14% from $2.9 billion in the year-ago period while
• HCV product sales plunged 40% to $2.6 billion, from $4.3 billion last year.

Looking ahead, GILD:

• reaffirmed its full-year 2017 guidance for net product sales of $22.5 to $24.5 billion, with adjusted gross margins between 86% 88%.

The company commented on its sizable cash position at the end of the quarter, along with its returns to shareholders, via press release:

As of March 31, 2017, Gilead had $34.0 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities compared to $32.4 billion as of December 31, 2016.

Cash flow from operating activities was $2.9 billion for the quarter.

During the first quarter of 2017, Gilead utilized $565 million on stock repurchases and paid cash dividends of $687 million.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. shares fell more than 2% in after-hours trading Tuesday. Year-to-date, GILD had declined -3.48% prior to today’s report, versus a +7.28% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

GILD currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of C (Neutral) and is ranked #71 of 273 stocks in the Biotech category.