Gilead Sciences (GILD) Stock: 7 Things to Know Before the Market Opens on December 8, 2025

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) heads into Monday’s session riding an event‑packed weekend: new cancer data at the ASH 2025 hematology meeting, fresh institutional‑ownership filings, and another round of valuation work from analysts and quant platforms.

Here’s what investors should know about Gilead Sciences stock before the U.S. market opens on Monday, December 8, 2025.

Quick snapshot
Last close (Friday, Dec. 5, 2025): $121.22, down ~1.1% on the day, with after‑hours trading ticking up to about $121.34.
Roughly 6% below the 52‑week high of $128.70 and well above the 52‑week low near $88.57. TechStock²
Fundamental backdrop: repeated 2025 guidance raises, strong HIV and liver franchises, and a busier oncology and cell‑therapy pipeline than Gilead has ever had. TechStock²

1. Price action: defensive biotech near the top of its range

As of the close on Friday, December 5, Gilead Sciences stock finished at $121.22, about 1.14% lower on the day; after‑hours trading nudged it slightly higher to ~$121.34. TechStock²

At that level:

GILD sits ~6% below its 52‑week high of $128.70 (set on November 20, 2025) and well above its ~$88.57 52‑week low, implying a market cap around $156 billion. TechStock²
The share price reflects Gilead’s reputation as a “defensive biotech”: the stock trades on a trailing P/E in the high‑teens to mid‑20s, with a 5‑year beta near 0.3, meaning it has historically been much less volatile than the broader market. TechStock²

Several recent analyses also highlight the multi‑year move: Simply Wall St notes Gilead has delivered ~53% total return over three years and roughly 143% over five years, driven by pipeline progress and better‑than‑feared HIV and oncology trends. ^[1]

Takeaway before the open: GILD enters Monday not as a beaten‑down turnaround story, but as a high‑quality, relatively low‑volatility large‑cap hovering near the top of its recent range.

2. Weekend ASH 2025 catalysts: Yescarta and anito‑cel keep oncology in focus

Yescarta: stronger case for earlier‑line CAR‑T in lymphoma

On December 7, 2025, Kite (Gilead’s cell‑therapy arm) presented new pooled data from the ZUMA‑7 and ALYCANTE trials at ASH 2025, focusing on second‑line Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) in relapsed or refractory large B‑cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL). ^[2]

Key points from the new analysis:

Two‑year overall survival (OS) rates:
- 64.9% across pooled ZUMA‑7 and ALYCANTE patients
- 62.8% in ZUMA‑7 alone
- 70.8% in the ALYCANTE study
Historically, R/R LBCL patients treated with older standards of care had two‑year survival closer to ~20%, underlining the magnitude of improvement. ^[3]
The benefit held up even in patients ineligible for the prior standard of care (high‑dose chemotherapy plus autologous stem‑cell transplant), which is a major real‑world population. ^[4]

Kite’s leadership framed the data as reinforcing Yescarta’s position as a “new standard of care” in second‑line LBCL and argued that CAR‑T should be considered earlier in the treatment journey, not just as a late‑line option. ^[5]

Anito‑cel (anito‑cabtagene autoleucel): high response rates in multiple myeloma

At the same ASH meeting, Kite also showcased updated data from iMMagine‑1, a pivotal Phase 2 registrational trial of anito‑cel in heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: ^[6]

Overall response rate (ORR) around 96–97%
Stringent complete/complete response (sCR/CR) rate of about 68%
Minimal residual disease (MRD)‑negative status in roughly 93–95% of evaluable patients at a 10⁻⁵ threshold
Median time to first response: ~1 month

Gilead describes iMMagine‑1 as a pivotal, registrational open‑label study, suggesting the company is laying groundwork for a potential 2026 BLA filing and launch if regulators agree. ^[7]

Why ASH matters for the stock

Collectively, the Yescarta and anito‑cel updates:

Cement Kite’s role as a top‑tier CAR‑T player in lymphoma and myeloma.
Add pipeline depth beyond Trodelvy, where 2025 data were more mixed. TechStock²
Reinforce the long‑term story that oncology and cell therapy can gradually reduce Gilead’s dependence on HIV revenue — a key theme in recent analyst work. TechStock²+1

For Monday’s open, traders will be watching whether onco‑focused investors bid GILD higher on the back of ASH 2025 headlines, especially given the stock is already near its highs.

3. HIV & patent narrative: lenacapavir momentum and Biktarvy protection

A big part of the “shifting narrative” around Gilead is happening in HIV:

Gilead recently settled U.S. Biktarvy patent disputes, pushing potential full‑dose generic entry out to April 1, 2036, extending the expected exclusivity runway by more than two years versus prior assumptions. TechStock²
Injectable lenacapavir (Yeztugo) is moving from a story‑stock asset to a commercial and public‑health pillar:
- Updated CDC guidelines now strongly recommend twice‑yearly lenacapavir as an HIV PrEP option.
- Gilead has a multi‑year partnership with the U.S. State Department and PEPFAR to deliver lenacapavir‑based PrEP to up to two million people across eligible countries. TechStock²

A separate piece of analysis (syndicated through Yahoo/Simply Wall St) argues that, combined with more recent HIV trial wins and broader government partnerships, these factors are reshaping how investors think about Gilead’s growth potential and risk profile — away from a fading COVID/Veklury story and toward long‑duration HIV cash flows plus oncology upside. ^[8]

At the same time, not every headline is unambiguously positive. Coverage of U.S. payers notes that some formularies, including CVS, have been slower to fully embrace Yeztugo, highlighting the usual tug‑of‑war between innovation and pricing / reimbursement constraints. ^[9]

4. Fresh institutional‑ownership moves: big holders trim, but the base is broad

Two 13F‑driven news alerts on December 7, 2025 spotlight institutional repositioning in GILD: ^[10]

Brown Advisory Inc.
- Cut its Gilead stake by 6.3%, selling 17,362 shares and ending the quarter with 256,539 shares worth roughly $28.4 million.
Federated Hermes Inc.
- Reduced its holding by 38.7%, selling 1,885,664 shares and retaining 2,980,646 shares, about 0.24% of the company, valued at around $330.5 million.

Those trims sit against a backdrop of very high overall institutional ownership:

MarketBeat’s compilation shows institutions and hedge funds owning roughly 83.7% of the float, with major positions at Norges Bank, Price T. Rowe, Invesco, Vanguard, BlackRock and others. ^[11]

Insider activity has skewed toward net selling over the past 90 days (around 135,757 shares), including transactions by CEO Daniel O’Day and other senior executives — not unusual after a strong run, but something short‑term traders often watch. ^[12]

Interpretation before the open:
The weekend data suggests portfolio rebalancing rather than a wholesale institutional exit. Big diversified asset managers are trimming, but the ownership base remains deep, which tends to support liquidity and mitigate extreme volatility.

5. Earnings, guidance and Street forecasts going into 2026

Q3 2025 recap: EPS beat and a second guidance raise

Gilead’s Q3 2025 report (October 30) helped set the tone for the current rally: TechStock²

Revenue grew ~3% year‑on‑year to about $7.8 billion.
Product sales ex‑COVID drug Veklury rose 4% to roughly $7.1 billion.
Non‑GAAP EPS climbed to about $2.47 vs. $2.02 a year ago.
HIV sales increased ~4% to $5.3 billion, with Biktarvy up around 6% and Descovy up ~20%.
New liver‑disease therapy Livdelzi helped liver sales grow 12% to about $819 million, while Veklury declined sharply to ~$277 million.

Management also raised full‑year 2025 guidance for the second time this year, now expecting: TechStock²

Product sales: $28.4–$28.7 billion
Product sales ex‑Veklury: $27.4–$27.7 billion
GAAP EPS: $6.65–$6.85
Non‑GAAP EPS: $8.05–$8.25

Independent consensus models (as aggregated by StockAnalysis and others) broadly align, projecting low‑single‑digit revenue growth and mid‑single‑digit EPS growth into 2026 — roughly $29.8 billion of revenue in 2025, rising toward $30.7 billion in 2026, with EPS around $8.3 this year and $8.9 next year. TechStock²

Dividend profile

Gilead is also a dividend name:

The board lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.79 per share starting in 2025 — about $3.16 annualised, for a 2.5–2.7% forward yield at current prices. TechStock²
Dividend research groups estimate a payout ratio in the high‑30% range and rate the dividend as high‑safety, given strong free‑cash‑flow coverage and a robust balance sheet. TechStock²
The next $0.79 dividend is expected to go ex‑dividend December 15, 2025, with payment around December 30, 2025 — a near‑term consideration for income‑focused investors. TechStock²

Bottom line: heading into Monday, Gilead screens as a steady‑growth, high‑cash‑flow pharma with a growing dividend, not a speculative biotech.

6. How Wall Street and valuation models see GILD now

Analyst ratings and price targets

Across recent notes captured by ts2.tech and MarketBeat, there’s a clear tilt toward constructive but measured bullishness: TechStock²+1

Truist Securities: Buy, target trimmed from $145 to $140.
Scotiabank: “Sector Outperform,” $140 target.
Needham: Buy, target raised from $133 to $140.
Cantor Fitzgerald: Overweight, $135 target.

MarketBeat’s tally:

2 Strong Buy, 22 Buy, 3 Hold ratings.
Consensus: “Moderate Buy” with an average price target around $130.65 — roughly 8% upside from Friday’s close. ^[13]

Fair‑value and DCF work: a wide spread of views

Different valuation frameworks diverge sharply:

A Simply Wall St DCF analysis published December 7, 2025 suggests Gilead is undervalued by about 50–55%, implying their intrinsic value estimate is far above the current share price and framing GILD as a value opportunity rather than a momentum name. ^[14]
Ts2’s 2026 outlook article notes that while broker targets cluster around $135–$140, GuruFocus’s “GF Value” model pegs one‑year fair value near $91.50, implying meaningful downside under more conservative assumptions. TechStock²
On a simple multiples basis, Gilead trades on a P/E of ~18.5x, below its own “Fair P/E” estimate of 28.2x and well below high‑growth biotech peers, supporting the “defensive growth at a reasonable price” narrative. ^[15]

What this means for Monday’s trade:

Short‑term traders may anchor on the Street’s ~$130–$140 target band.
Longer‑term, more fundamental investors might focus on whether DCF‑style upside or GF‑style downside better matches their view of HIV durability and oncology execution.

7. Key risks and watch‑points as the week begins

Even with a solid weekend news flow, there are real risks investors will be pricing as the bell rings:

Revenue concentration in HIV
- HIV therapies still account for a large share of sales, and while the Biktarvy patent settlement pushes generic risk into the 2030s, Gilead remains exposed to pricing pressure, guideline shifts and competition in both treatment and PrEP. TechStock²+1
Oncology competition and mixed data
- Trodelvy had a big win in first‑line triple‑negative breast cancer (ASCENT‑03) but a notable miss in first‑line HR+/HER2‑negative disease (ASCENT‑07), making the trajectory less straightforward. TechStock²
- Competing TROP2‑targeting ADCs, such as Daiichi/AstraZeneca’s candidate, have impressed specialists and could pressure Trodelvy’s share if they prove more effective or better tolerated. TechStock²
R&D and deal‑execution risk
- The August Interius acquisition (in‑vivo CAR‑T) and the $750 million Kymera molecular‑glue degrader collaboration add cutting‑edge but early‑stage platforms, intentionally diluting 2025 EPS by a few dozen cents with uncertain long‑term payoffs. TechStock²+1
Policy and pricing overhang
- Gilead is highly exposed to U.S. drug‑pricing reforms, including Medicare negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, and to shifts in global HIV funding and PrEP reimbursement — issues the company itself flags in its risk‑factor disclosures. TechStock²
Sentiment and positioning after a strong run
- With large funds like Brown Advisory and Federated Hermes trimming and the stock near its highs, any disappointment on guidance, pricing news, or payer coverage could spark profit‑taking. ^[16]

What to watch in Gilead Sciences stock at the December 8, 2025 open

Heading into Monday’s opening bell, here are the practical angles traders and longer‑term investors may focus on:

Reaction to ASH 2025 data
Does the market treat Yescarta and anito‑cel results as incremental (already in the price) or as catalysts for another leg higher in Gilead’s oncology narrative?
Flow of new HIV‑policy headlines
Any further updates on government partnerships, PrEP guidelines or payer coverage could move expectations for lenacapavir and overall HIV growth.
Street commentary
Watch for follow‑up notes from big brokers — especially if any firm lifts price targets toward or above $140 or, conversely, leans into valuation‑risk arguments.
Dividend and yield‑hungry buyers
With an ex‑dividend date looming on December 15, income‑oriented accounts sometimes accumulate shares in the days before if they like the fundamental story.
Volatility vs. the tape
With a low historical beta and high institutional ownership, GILD often moves less than the market on macro news — but stock‑specific catalysts like ASH and HIV updates can occasionally break that pattern.

Final word (and a quick reminder)

Gilead Sciences enters the December 8, 2025 session as a high‑cash‑flow, dividend‑paying biotech with:

Strengthened long‑term HIV cash flows (via Biktarvy exclusivity and lenacapavir PrEP momentum),
A richer oncology and cell‑therapy pipeline spotlighted this weekend at ASH 2025, and
A valuation that most brokers call “moderate buy” with mid‑single‑digit upside, but which some DCF models see as far more deeply undervalued.

As always, this overview is informational only and not investment advice. If you’re considering trading or investing in Gilead Sciences stock, it’s important to combine this with your own research and, where appropriate, speak to a qualified financial adviser who understands your individual risk tolerance, time horizon and financial situation.