Gilead Stock Downgraded at RBC as Analysts Expect Shares to Remain Range-Bound in 2023

By Senad Karaahmetovic

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets have downgraded Gilead Sciences to a Peer Perform rating from Outperform, setting a price target of $87 per share, which suggests a less than 2% upside from the current trading levels.

The analysts praised the company’s management but anticipate that Gilead’s stock will likely remain around its current value throughout 2023. They noted, “We expect continued good operational execution, but believe it will take time to gain more definitive visibility on the next sets of meaningful potential drivers: potential differentiation within large-market cancers like lung and breast, conversion of HIV treatment and PrEP to longer life cycle injectables, replenishment of COVID-19 revenues with an oral treatment, and/or expansion into inflammation.”

Despite the downgrade, they encourage investors to retain their GILD shares, citing the company’s low-risk profile and strong long-term prospects. They further advised clients to consider increasing their positions during any price declines in GILD stock.

The analysts added, "All things considered, GILD still has a reasonably favorable profile that we believe justifies holding the stock, even if we would wait to add further to positions.”

As of pre-market trading on Tuesday, Gilead’s shares have declined nearly 0.5%.