Downgrades roll in on Gilead; shares off 5%

What’s special about COVID-19,” asked Leerink’s Geoff Porges in the conversation from last earnings call that everyone is talking about (transcript here).

GILD -5.15% premarket.

Porges: “Should we assume the capital returns and the profitability for providing a global treatment for Covid long-term, after the first 200K-300K courses are provided on a donation basis? Should we assume the returns are going to be similar to the returns that you’ve generated in other parts of the business?”

CEO Daniel O’Day: “There’s been no other time like this in the history of the planet… There is no rulebook out there, other than that we need to be very thoughtful about how we can make sure we provide access of our medicines to patients around the globe… So points well taken.” O’Day continued that it’s too early to discuss potential revenue. “We understand our responsibility.”

Raymond James rings the register, downgrading to Market Perform. “We aren’t going to wild guess remdesivir NPV,” goes the title of their note.

SunTrust downgrades to Sell from Hold: “Lack of visibility to growth.” Their $70 price target suggests nearly 20% downside from last night’s close.

JPMorgan downgrades to Neutral from Overweight.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3567591-downgrades-roll-in-on-gilead-shares-off-5