Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) said late Wednesday that its first quarter profit slipped to 80 cents per share, from $854.9 million or $0.92 per share, in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 87 cents per share in the latest quarter. Revenue declined 8% to $1.93 billion from $2.09 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 97 cents per share on revenue of $2.04 billion.
Gilead also reiterated its fiscal 2011 guidance. The company said that it continues to expect full year product revenue in the range of $7.9-8.1 billion in 2011, reflecting an increase of 7-10% over 2010 product sales. The guidance includes an adverse 5-6% impact from U.S. health care reform, as well as the impact of pricing pressures in some countries in the European Union. Gilead expects gross margins in the range of 74% to 76% in 2011.
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