Benchmark analyst Robert Wasserman noted that Ligand (LGND) raised its financial guidance due to recent shipments of its Captisol cyclodextrin for use in clinical studies of Gilead's (GILD) antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19. Following the FDA's recent rapid review and acceptance of Gilead's IND filing for remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 the company has announced the initiation of two Phase 3 clinical studies for the drug to treat the new disease, noted Wasserman, who called partner Ligand a "coronavirus play in the making." He reiterates a Buy rating and $135 price target on Ligand shares.

TD Cowen lowered the firm's price target on Gilead to $85 from $90 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said the 5% product sales beat was led by Veklury with an assist from the liver disease franchise and HIV, while legacy HCV cell therapy and Trodelvy partially offset.

RBC Capital lowered the firm's price target on Gilead to $74 from $76 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. The company's solid quarter, helped by flagship drug Biktarvy in the face of seasonal conerns, may help convince some investors that shares have bottomed out, as its core businesses remain relatively stable and there are more catalysts in the second half of the year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. That said, growth off Gilead's high revenue base remains challenging, especially with medium-term headwinds to HIV, oncology, and CAR-T, the firm added.

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Consensus $3.67. Sees FY24 product sales $27.1B-$27.5B.

Reports Q1 revenue $6.7B, consensus $5.92B. "Gilead delivered another strong quarter of revenue growth in the first quarter with 6% year-over-year growth in our base business driven by HIV, Oncology and Liver Disease," said Daniel O'Day, Gilead's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The acquisition of CymaBay brings us another potentially transformative therapy for people with liver disease, and a regulatory decision on seladelpar is expected in August. New HIV data demonstrates the continued progress in our long-acting HIV pipeline, and we look forward to providing updates on this and our broad Oncology portfolio throughout the rest of 2024."