Gilead Sciences Q3 2026 earnings: mixed

Gilead Sciences, the maker of HIV and other medicines, sold 13% more products than a year ago in the third quarter of 2026 and produced much more cash. It raised its sales expectation for the year, but now expects a bigger loss for 2026 because of large charges for buying rights to experimental drugs. ¹

Against what analysts expected

On the company's adjusted measure, which leaves out items such as gains and losses on shares it holds, earnings per share were $2.55, above the $2.17 that analysts expected on average (Nasdaq's earnings calendar); on standard accounting they were $1.94, below it, so the comparison depends on those excluded items. ¹²

The strong points

Sales of Gilead's medicines rose 13% from a year ago to $8.3 billion. ¹
Free cash flow, the cash left after running the business and investing in it, was $4.8 billion, up by more than a fifth. ¹
Of each dollar of product sales, 81 cents was left after the direct cost of making the medicines, up from about 79 cents a year ago. ¹

The weak points

Spending on research and on selling and administration each rose by about 20%, far faster than revenue. ¹
Gilead's net worth on paper fell from $22.6 billion at the start of the year to $13.0 billion, while its long-term liabilities rose. ¹

What the company expects

Gilead raised its expectation for 2026 product sales to $31.0 to $31.3 billion, about $900 million above what it said in August. ¹
At the same time it now expects a bigger loss for the year, of $4.05 to $4.40 per share, against $3.40 to $3.75 in August. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A mixed report. An excellent quarter for the core business, with sales up 13%, strong cash and a raised sales expectation, but Gilead lowered its profit expectation for the year because of large deal charges.

The results as published

Notes

Gilead Sciences's results release, 29 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 29 October 2026. ↩

Gilead Sciences earnings: third quarter 2026