
Gilead Sciences
GILD · NasdaqBiktarvy alone outsells Gilead's entire operating profit
Biktarvy brought in $4.06B, more than operating income of $3.46B, so the company's results rest heavily on one HIV medicine.
Q3 FY2026, the quarter to Sep 30, 2026 · 10-Q filed Oct 30, 2026
- Operating margin
- 41.7%
- Net income
- $2.4B
- Free cash flow, quarter
- $4.8B
Largest source of revenue: Biktarvy, 48.9% of the total.
Where Gilead Sciences's money goes
- 01
Biktarvy alone outsells Gilead's entire operating profit
Biktarvy brought in $4.06B, more than operating income of $3.46B, so the company's results rest heavily on one HIV medicine.
Why it matters
Biktarvy sales were $4.06B this quarter, up 10.1%, and 48.9% of total revenue of $8.3B, a share that rose 1.46 points. Operating income was $3.46B, so Biktarvy's sales on their own exceed it. Descovy, the next largest product, added $1.05B, or 12.6% of revenue.1
Gilead says it receives "a substantial portion of our revenue" from HIV products. Medicare negotiation has set a Biktarvy price the filing calls "substantially lower than the price we currently charge in Medicare". That price has been set but has not started.1
AnalysisSales are not profit, so this does not mean Biktarvy earns all of the operating income. It shows scale: because each added unit costs little to make, a change in Biktarvy's net price moves the operating result by an amount close to the change in its sales.
- 02
Product sales grew faster than the headline figure
Revenue rose 6.8%, but product sales climbed to $8.29B from $7.35B; a one-time royalty recognition a year earlier masks the gap.
Why it matters
Total revenues were $8.3B against $7.77B a year earlier, up 6.8%. Product sales were $8.29B against $7.35B. Royalty, contract and other revenues fell 97.4% to $11M from $424M: the prior-year quarter included a recognition of "previously constrained revenues from the sale of certain intellectual property".1
A year earlier the royalty, contract and other line was 5.5% of revenue; this quarter it was 0.13%. Product sales are now 99.9% of revenue.1
AnalysisThe year-on-year comparison of total revenue carries a one-time item in its base, so product sales alone give the cleaner view of the business. Even that view needs a caveat: the filing credits part of the quarter's HIV growth to favorable inventory dynamics, not only to patient demand.
- 03
Operating profit rose while net income fell 20.4%
Operating income rose 4.1% to $3.46B, but investment losses and a higher tax rate cut net income to $2.43B from $3.05B.
Why it matters
Net income was 70.2% of operating income this quarter, against 91.7% a year earlier. Other items were a net expense of $130M, against net other income of $569M a year earlier, as the company's equity holdings swung from gains to losses. Interest expense was $269M against $256M.1
Income tax expense was $634M on pre-tax income of $3.06B, a rate of 20.7%, against $589M on $3.64B, or 16.2%, in a prior-year quarter helped by a tax settlement. Diluted earnings per share fell to $1.94 from $2.43.1
AnalysisThe business of selling medicines earned more than a year ago. The fall in net income came from investment marks and tax, items outside operations that can move in either direction from one quarter to the next.
- 04
Cash generation ran at twice reported profit
Operating cash flow of $5.04B was 2.07 times net income, and a quarter earlier a $10.39B operating loss came with $3.43B of free cash flow.
Why it matters
Operating cash flow was $5.04B this quarter against net income of $2.43B. Free cash flow was $4.8B, 57.8% of revenue, with capital spending at 2.9% of revenue.1
In the quarter before, when the Arcellx, Tubulis and Ouro Medicines acquisitions closed, Gilead reported an operating loss of $10.39B on revenue of $7.8B, and free cash flow of $3.43B. Annual figures swing the same way: operating income of $1.66B the year before last and $10.0B last year, while free cash flow was $10.3B and $9.46B.1
AnalysisGilead treats clinical-stage purchases as asset acquisitions and expenses the price as acquired research, so reported profit drops in the quarter a deal closes while cash from existing medicines keeps arriving. The caveat: the purchase price is still paid in cash, outside operating cash flow, so free cash flow on this measure does not show it.
Sources
- 1.Gilead Sciences 10-Q for the period to 2026-09-30 (the filing), Oct 30, 2026, read Nov 2, 2026
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Growth, profit and margin
Revenue went from $4.2B in FY2007 to $29.4B in FY2025, the operating margin from 51.2% to 34.0%, over 18 years.
- Revenue$29.4B
- Operating income$10.0B
- Operating margin34.0%
- Period
- Q3 FY2026
- Revenue
- $8.3B
- Operating income
- $3.5B
- Operating margin
- 41.7%
- Net income
- $2.4B
- Free cash flow
- $4.8B
Does the profit turn into cash?
Q3 FY2026: free cash flow of $4.8B against net income of $2.4B in the quarter.
- Operating cash flow$10.0B
- Capital expenditure$563.0M
- Free cash flow$9.5B
- Net income$8.5B
Capital expenditure is drawn below the axis as cash out. Cash conversion is operating cash flow over net income, shown in the tooltip for years with a profit.
Financial data and sources
How the revenue mix has shifted
Each breakdown the filing reports, as shares of revenue, for every period it restates.
REVENUES - Summary of Disaggregation of Revenues (Details). The filing restates this breakdown for 1 period.
Click a member to isolate it across the years shown.
The figures
Margins, cash and growth for the period, each with what it was computed from.
Where revenue comes from
Every breakdown the filing reports for the period, with each item's share.
Revenue streams
| Biktarvy | $4.1B | 48.9% |
| Descovy | $1.0B | 12.6% |
| Trodelvy | $506.0M | 6.1% |
| Genvoya | $339.0M | 4.1% |
| Vemlidy | $333.0M | 4.0% |
| Yeztugo | $305.0M | 3.7% |
| Yescarta | $294.0M | 3.5% |
| Odefsey | $286.0M | 3.4% |
| Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir | $274.0M | 3.3% |
| Livdelzi | $203.0M | 2.4% |
| Symtuza - Revenue share | $132.0M | 1.6% |
| Other Liver Disease | $117.0M | 1.4% |
| AmBisome | $99.0M | 1.2% |
| Veklury | $86.0M | 1.0% |
| Other HIV | $82.0M | 1.0% |
| Other | $68.0M | 0.8% |
| Tecartus | $60.0M | 0.7% |
| Royalty, contract and other revenues | $11.0M | 0.1% |
Geographic markets
| Europe | $1.1B | 12.8% |
| Rest of World | $872.0M | 10.5% |
These items do not sum to total revenue; the filing states them beside it. Source10-Q, us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30
What it costs
The cost lines beneath operating income, each as a share of revenue, then the operating result.
Costs are reported by function: what it cost to make what was sold, then the expenses of selling, developing and administering.
| Cost line | Q3 FY2026 | Of revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs and expenses | $4.8B | 58.3% | Source10-Q, us-gaap:CostsAndExpenses, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 |
| Operating income (loss) | $3.5B | 41.7% | Source10-Q, us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 |
Operating figures the company states
From the text of the filing rather than its statements, each with the sentence that states it.
View source
Approximat ely 22% and 27% of our product sales were denominated in foreign currencies during the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.
The statements, as filed
The income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet in the company's own order and words. Every line links to the filing.
Income statement19 lines, as presented in the 10-Q
Cash flow statement4 lines, as presented in the 10-Q
Year to date, as a quarterly filing reports it.
| Line | Q3 FY2026 | A year earlier | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Activities: | ||||
| Net (loss) income | $2.43B | $3.05B | -20% | Source10-Q, us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 |
| Adjustments to reconcile Net (loss) income to Net cash provided by operating activities: | ||||
| Depreciation expense | $132.0M | $90.0M | +47% | Source10-Q, us-gaap:Depreciation, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 |
| In-process research and development impairments | $0 | $0 | Source10-Q, us-gaap:ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 | |
| Statement of Cash Flows | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $6.44B | $7.33B | -12% | Source10-Q, us-gaap:CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents, as reported in the 10-Q filed 2026-10-30 |
Balance sheet31 lines, as presented in the 10-Q
About this data
- Source
- Gilead Sciences 10-Q, accession 0000882095-26-000039, filed Oct 30, 2026, read on Nov 2, 2026.
- History
- From the SEC's XBRL company facts, the value from the latest filing that stated each period.
- Reading
- Paragraphs marked Analysis are CXProWealth's reading; everything else is the filing's own numbers and words, or a cited source.
- Version
- methodology business-lens-1.0 · schema 1.2.0 · run business-lens-2026-11-02
What holds Gilead Sciences's model up, and what could bend it
Competitive edge
An 81.1% gross margin funds research and selling
Cost of goods sold was flat at $1.57B while revenue rose 6.8%, leaving room to spend 19.4% of revenue on research and 19.8% on selling.
The detail
Gross margin reached 81.1%. Cost of goods sold rose 0.1% to $1.57B, which the filing credits partly to "the expiration of a royalty-related obligation". Research and development was $1.61B and selling, general and administrative costs $1.64B, and operating margin was still 41.7%.1
AnalysisOnce a medicine is approved and protected, each added unit costs little to make. The gap between price and production cost pays for the next product and for reaching prescribers, and it holds only as long as patents and pricing do.
Gilead replaces its own HIV regimens first
Biktarvy rose 10.1% while the older Genvoya fell 10.1%; the filing credits Biktarvy's growth partly to patients switching from Gilead's own regimens.
The detail
Biktarvy reached $4.06B and gained 1.46 points of revenue share, while Genvoya fell to $339M and lost 0.77 points. The filing attributes Biktarvy's growth partly to "patients switching from Genvoya and other Gilead HIV products". Bixlenvo was newly approved for patients moving from complex regimens.1
AnalysisEach new generation keeps the patient, the prescriber and the payer contract inside the company and restarts patent protection, so the franchise absorbs the decline of its older products instead of losing those patients. The same move is its answer to generic challenges against the older regimens.
Prevention opens HIV sales to people who are not sick
Yeztugo reached $305M, up 682%, and Descovy rose 49.2% to $1.05B, with the filing naming higher demand in HIV prevention as a driver.
The detail
The filing attributes HIV growth to "higher average realized price, higher demand in HIV prevention and favorable inventory dynamics". It puts Yeztugo's increase down to "higher demand"; for Descovy it names price and inventory, not demand. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 20.9% to $1.64B, with "higher HIV promotional expenses" among the reasons.1
AnalysisTreatment sells to people already diagnosed; prevention sells to a far larger group of healthy people at risk. Part of this quarter's growth came from channel stocking, which the filing says is typically followed by a draw-down in the next first quarter, so that quarter is the cleaner read on demand.
What to watch
A lower Medicare price is set for Biktarvy
Medicare negotiation set a Biktarvy price the filing calls substantially lower than today's, on a medicine that brings in 48.9% of revenue.
The detail
The filing calls the negotiated price "substantially lower than the price we currently charge in Medicare" and says it will also raise Medicaid rebates and lower other discounted prices. Gilead has also agreed to most-favored-nation prices in Medicaid for select products and future launches. The price has been set but has not started.1
AnalysisFor HIV revenue to hold up through the change, newer products such as Yeztugo, Descovy and Bixlenvo would have to carry more of the franchise, or volume outside Medicare would have to grow.
Generic filers challenge patents on Descovy, Odefsey and Vemlidy
Cipla and Zydus have challenged patents on Descovy, 12.6% of revenue, and on Odefsey and Vemlidy; Gilead has sued both to defend them.
The detail
Cipla and Zydus have filed applications challenging patents on Descovy, Odefsey and Vemlidy, and Gilead has sued both, saying it intends to "enforce and defend our intellectual property". This quarter Descovy brought in $1.05B, Vemlidy $333M and Odefsey $286M, or 12.6%, 4.0% and 3.4% of revenue.1
AnalysisThe defence is partly legal and partly commercial: moving patients to newer regimens before cheaper copies of the older ones arrive. That works only if patients, prescribers and payers value the newer forms enough to switch.
Spending grows faster than revenue before acquired assets sell
R&D rose 19.5% and SG&A 20.9% against revenue up 6.8%, carrying three acquisitions whose programs have not yet reached the market.
The detail
Research and development rose to $1.61B from $1.35B, and selling, general and administrative costs to $1.64B from $1.36B. The filing names integration costs from the Arcellx, Ouro Medicines and Tubulis acquisitions, legal matters, employee costs and HIV promotion. Operating margin slipped 1.11 points to 41.7%.1
The cell therapy anito-cel for multiple myeloma has an FDA decision date in December, and the acquired antibody-drug conjugate and T cell engager programs are in clinical trials. Existing cell therapy shows the competitive pressure: Yescarta fell 15.8% to $294M and Tecartus 27.7% to $60M, on what the filing calls "ongoing competitive headwinds".1
AnalysisUntil the acquired programs are approved and sold, the company carries their cost without their revenue. The filing itself notes that development failure "can occur at any point in the process", citing the stopped late-stage lung cancer study of Trodelvy.1
Sources
- 1.Gilead Sciences 10-Q for the period to 2026-09-30 (the filing), Oct 30, 2026, read Nov 2, 2026
Gilead Sciences, further in
Member research, then your own questions on ChatGPT.
What could change the outlook
What Gilead Sciences's numbers depend on from here, read from the filing: the conditions behind this period's margins and growth, and where a change would show first.
- What Gilead's HIV revenue depends on once the Medicare price starts
How much of the franchise rests on Biktarvy's price, what the newer prevention and switching products would have to carry, and which signals separate patient demand from channel timing.
- Reading a drugmaker whose profit and cash disagree
Why expensed acquisitions make quarterly earnings swing while cash keeps arriving, and which lines to read when judging what the medicines themselves generate.
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Have a question about Gilead Sciences?
Explore its profit drivers, competitive edge, risks, or your own investment and business questions with CXProWealth on ChatGPT.
- How could a lower Medicare price for Biktarvy affect Gilead's HIV revenue if Yeztugo and Descovy keep growing?
- Why did Gilead's net income fall 20.4% this quarter while its operating income rose 4.1%?
- How does Gilead's expensing of acquired research make its operating income and free cash flow tell different stories?
Business Lens describes Gilead Sciences from its own filings with the SEC. It is not a view on its shares, a target, or advice to buy, sell or hold anything; figures are as filed and may be restated by the company later. The filing, the dates and the version are under the financial data above.