The earnings season is off to a flying start, owing to a slew of upbeat economic data, strong corporate performance, and President Donald Trump’s tax reform signed into law. However, equity markets have been suffering a sell-off owing to fears of rising rates. Coming to the performance of biotech giants, it has been a mixed bag for biotech companies, with some beating market expectations, while a few failing to do so.

We will now discuss the performance of a few biotech giants such as Amgen Inc (AMGN – Free Report), Gilead Sciences (GILD – Free Report), Biogen Inc (BIIB – Free Report) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN – Free Report).

Earnings in Focus

Amgen reported fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $2.89 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04, but unchanged from the year-ago quarter. The company also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on revenues. Amgen reported revenues of $5.802 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.856 billion and decreasing 2.7% from $5.965 billion in the year-ago quarter.

For full-year 2017, the company reported a 1% decrease in revenues to $22.849 billion. However, Non-GAAP EPS increased 8% to $12.58.

The company expects its 2018 non-GAAP EPS to be in the range $12.6-$13.7. It also expects its revenues to be in the range of $21.8-$22.8 billion. Moreover, Amgen expects adjusted tax rate to be around 14-15% in 2018, owing to the tax reform.

Gilead Sciences reported fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.70 but decreasing around 34.1% from $2.70 per share in the year-ago quarter. Moreover, the company also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate on revenues. The company reported revenues of $5.949 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.776 billion but decreasing more than 18.7% from $7.320 billion in the year-ago quarter.

For full-year 2017, the company reported a 14.1% decrease in revenues to $26.107 billion. Moreover, Non-GAAP EPS decreased 23.6% to $8.84 in the period.