Written by StockNews.com

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) posted better than expected fourth quarter earnings results after the market closed but offered a weak outlook that sent its shares plunging in aftermarket trading.

The Foster City, CA-based biotech giant reported adjusted Q4 EPS of $2.70, which was $0.10 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $2.60. Revenues fell 13.9% from last year to $7.32 billion, also topping analysts’ $7.17 billion view.

GILD noted that fourth quarter product sales were $4.9 billion in the United States, $1.4 billion in Europe, $314 million in Japan and $556 million in other locations. Gross margins were 88.1%, up from 87.6% on a sequential basis from Q3.

On a sour note, Gilead forecast weaker than expected 2017 revenues of $22.5 billion to $24.5 billion. Analysts were looking for a much higher outlook of $27.98 billion.

The company commented via press release:

As of December 31, 2016, Gilead had $32.4 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared to $26.2 billion as of December 31, 2015, primarily due to the issuance of $5.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes in September 2016. During 2016, Gilead generated $16.7 billion in operating cash flow, utilized $11.0 billion to repurchase 123 million shares of its stock and paid cash dividends of $2.5 billion.

...Year-to-date, GILD had gained 2.12% prior to today’s report, versus a 2.43% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

GILD currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of C (Neutral), and is ranked #51 of 259 stocks in the Biotech category.