Gilead Sciences posts $7.8 billion quarter as acquisition costs swamp reported earnings
The biopharma sector's current acquisition wave carries a familiar cost structure: strong commercial books funding heavy upfront charges that distort the income statement for quarters at a time. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD)…
Key takeaways
- Gilead Sciences posted approximately $7.8 billion in total revenue for fiscal Q2 2026, a 10% year-over-year increase.
- More than $11 billion in acquired in-process research and development (IPR&D) charges drove Gilead to a GAAP loss of $8.45 per share.
- Product sales excluding Veklury rose 10% to $7.6 billion, led by HIV revenue of $5.7 billion (up 12%).
- The $11.2 billion in IPR&D charges tied to the Arcellx, Tubulis, and Ouro Medicines acquisitions accounted for $9.08 per share of the reported loss.
- Gilead raised the lower end of its 2026 product-sales guidance to $30.1 billion–$30.4 billion, reflecting confidence in its core portfolio.
The biopharma sector's current acquisition wave carries a familiar cost structure: strong commercial books funding heavy upfront charges that distort the income statement for quarters at a time. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) delivered a clear illustration of that dynamic in fiscal Q2 2026, posting total revenue of approximately $7.8 billion, a 10% year-over-year gain, while recording more than $11 billion in acquired in-process research and development expenses that drove the company to a GAAP loss of $8.45 per share.
Commercial engine running, pipeline priced in
The underlying business held its own. Product sales excluding Veklury, the company's COVID-19 treatment now in steep commercial decline, rose 10% to $7.6 billion, with HIV doing the heaviest lifting. HIV revenue increased 12% to $5.7 billion. Biktarvy climbed 7% to $3.8 billion, Descovy surged 48% to $967 million, and Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injectable HIV-prevention medicine, generated $232 million as its launch continued gaining traction.
Outside HIV, liver-disease sales rose 10% to $877 million, with Livdelzi alone generating $167 million, more than doubling year over year. Trodelvy, the breast-cancer treatment, grew 26% to $457 million. Management lifted the lower end of its 2026 product-sales guidance to a range of $30.1 billion to $30.4 billion and raised the Veklury-excluded forecast to $29.8 billion to $30.1 billion, both moves reflecting confidence in core portfolio momentum.
The acquisition overhang
The $11.2 billion in IPR&D charges tied to the acquisitions of Arcellx, Tubulis, and Ouro Medicines accounts for $9.08 per share of the reported loss. On a non-GAAP basis the per-share loss came in at $6.75, against a profit of $2.01 in the same period a year earlier. The acquired programs target oncology and inflammatory diseases, areas where Gilead is trying to reduce its dependence on HIV. None of those programs has yet produced meaningful commercial revenue, and their value remains contingent on clinical outcomes, regulatory decisions, and successful launches.
The cell-therapy business meanwhile weakened. Revenue fell 14% to $417 million, with Yescarta down 12% to $346 million and Tecartus off 24% to $70 million. Veklury revenue collapsed 81% to $23 million, prompting the company to cut its full-year Veklury forecast from approximately $600 million to $300 million.
Against the backdrop of a commercial portfolio that is clearly accelerating, the sector-wide read-through is straightforward: operational health and acquisition ambition can coexist, but the latter sets a bar. The $11.2 billion charged in a single quarter is that bar.
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