Gilead (Nasdaq:GILD) Ends 2010 with a Revenue Drop

With the hyped-up concern over swine flu not materializing last year, Gilead (Nasdaq:GILD) finished the last quarter of the year with negative revenue, the first time since 1999.

A big part of income for Gilead is royalties they receive from Roche from their part in developing Tamiflu. In a down year it significantly reflects on revenue, and ultimately, earnings.

Royalty income is especially important because it goes direct to earnings because of the lack of cost inputs in royalties.

Product sales for the quarter were up 7 percent over the same period last year, led by HIV treatment Atripla.

Also pushing earnings down was increased spend in the R&D budget. That's not a bad thing as long as a strong pipeline is established.

Gilead was trading at $39.08, down $0.58, or 1.48 percent, as of 12:37 PM EST.