Gilead Sciences beat analysts’ fourth-quarter expectations Tuesday but gave weak 2015 sales guidance, as the biotech suffers pricing pressures on its blockbuster hepatitis C drugs. Earnings leaped 342% to $2.43 a share, 21 cents above the consensus. Revenue jumped 134% to $7.31 billion, more than $500 million above Wall Street’s view. However, Gilead (GILD) sees full-year net product sales of $26 billion to $27 billion, falling below
Biogen Idec topped Q4 estimates and guided 2015 above expectations Thursday after fellow big-cap biotech Alexion Pharmaceuticals also beat but guided light. But both stocks rallied strongly. After the close, Biogen (BIIB) said that earnings minus one-time items rose 74% to $4.09 a share, the third straight quarter of accelerating year-over-year growth. It beat the analyst consensus by 31 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Sales
Continued growth in mobile advertising and users helped push Facebook earnings beyond expectations in the fourth quarter. But shares retreated late Wednesday as the social giant predicted expenses would keep soaring. Facebook (FB) earned 54 cents a share minus items, up 74% vs. a year earlier and above the consensus of 49 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue rose 49% to $3.85 billion, topping estimates for $3.77 billion. It