Gilead Shares Jump On Earnings Beat

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. jumped 3% after hours Thursday as the biotechnology giant reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter. Gilead said adjusted net income was $2.94 a share, nearly 27% better than the $2.32 expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue ended up at $7.59 billion, 10% ahead of the $6.89 billion FactSet forecast. Thanks to heavy revenue and profits from its two Hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, sales trumped last year's $5 billion while earnings were nearly double the $1.48 reported for the 2014 quarter. Gilead also upped its projections for full-year sales to a range of $28 billion to $29 billion, from earlier forecasts of $26 billion to $27 billion.