Gilead Sciences Q3 2026 earnings: HIV strength drives beat, guidance raised again
Gilead topped Wall Street's revenue and adjusted-profit targets in Q3 2026 on strong HIV drug sales, and raised its full-year outlook for a fourth straight quarter.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $2.55 | $2.24 | +13.7% |
| Revenue | $8.30B | $7.96B | +4.2% |
Key takeaways
- The beat was driven mainly by Gilead’s HIV business — its largest — which grew 18% from a year earlier as both treatment and prevention drugs sold well; sales of its HIV-prevention drugs nearly doubled year over year.
- Biktarvy, Gilead’s leading HIV treatment, grew 10% to $4.1 billion for the quarter. Trodelvy (a cancer drug) and Livdelzi (a liver-disease drug) also added to growth, while sales of Veklury (the COVID-19 antiviral) and the company’s cell-therapy cancer treatments fell, partly offsetting the gains.
- CEO Daniel O’Day called it an “exceptional” quarter, saying it marked the company’s strongest year-over-year growth in its base business in more than a decade, and noted Gilead has now raised its full-year revenue guidance every quarter this year, a cumulative $1.6 billion increase since January.
- The trailing-12-month profitability figures on this page show a net loss and negative margins, but that reflects one-time accounting charges taken earlier in 2026, not the current quarter’s performance: Gilead expensed large upfront payments immediately after striking deals to acquire early-stage drug programs from Arcellx, Tubulis and Ouro Medicines. Those charges aside, the underlying business stayed highly profitable — the roughly 80% gross margin shows Gilead still keeps about 80 cents of every revenue dollar after covering the direct cost of making its drugs.
- On a strict GAAP basis (which includes one-time items), diluted earnings per share for the quarter actually fell to $1.94 from $2.43 a year earlier, mainly because of losses on the company’s equity investments this year versus gains a year ago, along with higher operating expenses and taxes — a reminder that the quarter’s headline profit beat is measured on an adjusted basis that strips out swings like these.
- Management pointed to upcoming drug launches in HIV and oncology, early progress in its newer inflammation-drug pipeline, and continued cost discipline as reasons for confidence in the rest of the year.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 79.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | -8.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | -10.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | -6.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | -$2.66 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 5.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | -16.3% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report