FOSTER CITY, Calif. (AFX) - Biotech drug maker Gilead Sciences Inc. said Thursday that its second-quarter profit rose 34 percent on strong sales of its HIV treatments.
Net income grew to $265.2 million, or 56 cents per share, from $196 million, or 41 cents per share, a year ago. Latest results include stock-option expenses of $27.7 million.
Revenue rose 38 percent to $685.3 million from $495.3 million a year ago.
Sales of HIV treatments drove revenue with Truvada sales more than doubling to $299.3 million, and sales of Viread up 20 percent to $167.4 million from a year ago. Also, royalties of the flu treatment Tamiflu rose to $73.3 million from $36.2 million last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect Gilead to earn 54 cents per share on revenue of $663.9 million.
However, shares of Gilead fell $1.85, or 3.1 percent, to $57.50 in the extended session on the INET electronic exchange, after closing down $1.88, or 3.1 percent, on the Nasdaq at above average trading volume.
The biotech sector on the whole took a hit Thursday after the House failed to override President Bush's veto on federal funding for stem-cell research. The American Stock Exchange's Biotechnology Index closed down 9.08 points, or 1.4 percent, to 631.23.
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