Earnings Preview: Gilead Sciences EPS, Revenue Expected to Rise from Previous Quarter

Gilead Sciences GILD announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Here's Benzinga's guide to Gilead Sciences' second quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Ahead of the company's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting a positive EPS reading of 96 cents per share and revenues of $2.07 billion. Wall Street will be looking to see how this quarter's numbers compare to the year-ago quarter's positive EPS of 81 cents per share on revenues of $1.93 billion. We'll have to wait for Tuesday to see if Gilead Sciences falls in line with analyst expectations and reports an estimated increase in both EPS and revenue from the year-ago quarter.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
EPS Estimate	$0.92	$0.89	$0.84	$0.82
EPS Actual	$0.82	$0.90	$0.85	$0.81

Stock Performance:

Shares of Gilead Sciences were trading at $41.79 as of July 20, 2011. Shares are up 15.3% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 15.5%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts for Gilead Sciences is a Moderate Buy. The strength of this rating has declined slightly over the past three months.

Competitors:

Wondering how some of the other healthcare companies are doing? Here are a few of Gilead Sciences' peers in that sector.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY: Hold with a $0.58 recent quarter EPS
• GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR GSK: Hold with a $1.01 recent quarter EPS
• Johnson & Johnson JNJ: Moderate Buy with a $1.28 recent quarter EPS
• Merck & MRK: Moderate Buy with a $0.92 recent quarter EPS

The medical-bioengineering company's industry has seen price/earnings growth of 4.2% during the current fiscal year.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Gilead Sciences Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company which discovers, develops and commercializes therapies for viral diseases, infectious diseases and cancer.

Take Action:

Now that you've gotten an advanced peak at Gilead Sciences' upcoming earnings numbers, keep an eye out for any surprises in the report and be ready to take action. Also, check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap and a guide to your next steps.

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