RBC Capital analyst Brian Abrahams believes Gilead's (GILD) weakness is potentially due to data from GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) ATLAS trial and last night's announcement of the departure of its CMO. However, he does not see either as a major fundamental concern and would use the weakness in Gilead shares as a buying opportunity. Feedback he has received from doctors is that injectables like Glaxo's could be used in a select number of patients, but he does not see a major impact on Gilead's HIV franchise near- or long-term from this product, Abrahams said. On the CMO departure, the analyst said that the company clarified that this is "completely unrelated" to the recently-announced CEO transition, so he does not see this reflecting any major structural issue. Abrahams keeps an Outperform rating on Gilead shares, which are down over 3% to $74.82 in afternoon trading.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm's price target on Gilead to $75 from $78 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm, which made slight adjustments to all of its large-cap biotechnology models ahead of Q1 earnings season for the group, lowered its target for Gilead given slower expected HIV growth. The "usual seasonal headwinds that typically make this one of the weaker quarters for the industry," the analyst added in the preview note.