Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - October 31, 2002
Deena Beasley
The Foster City, California-based company reported a third-quarter net profit of $20.8 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $25.2 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier. Results in the latest quarter include a one-time loss of $16 million on the sale of Gilead's shares in OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. OSIP.O .
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected a profit of 8 cents a share, according to research firm Thomson First Call.
"The company is executing extremely well," said Michael King, an analyst at Banc of America Securities.
Without the loss on OSI shares, Gilead would have earned $36.8 million, or 18 cents a share, Chief Financial Officer John Milligan said during a conference call. He attributed the strong results to better-than-expected product sales.
Total revenue rose 163 percent from a year earlier to $134 million, with sales of Viread increasing 54 percent from the second quarter to $68.9 million in the third quarter.
Third-quarter sales of anti-fungal therapy AmBisome rose 18 percent to $48.6 million from the year-earlier period.
For the full year, Gilead raised its guidance for AmBisome sales to a range of $172 million to $180 million from its previous estimate of $165 million.
"It doesn't look like the competitive threat is there," said King, referring to Pfizer Inc.'s PFE.N anti-fungal drug Vfend.
The company declined to project full-year sales of Viread, citing the drug's recent launch in Europe, or to estimate 2002 sales for Hepsera, the hepatitis B drug approved by U.S. regulators at the end of September.
King said he was raising estimated 2002 Viread sales to $220 million from $202 million.
"We believe Viread will play an important role both as a treatment for HIV and as a potential preventive agent," Gilead's Chief Executive John Martin said.
He noted that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently gave $6.5 million to fund a study of Viread as an AIDS-prevention treatment in sex workers in three African nations and one Asian country.
Milligan reaffirmed earlier projections for "profitable" full-year 2002 earnings results. The current First Call estimate calls for the company to earn 22 cents a share this year.
Shares of Gilead, which rose 14 cents to close at $34.74 on the Nasdaq exchange, were trading higher at $35.75 after hours on Instinet.
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