It’s difficult to believe that GILD’s prospects are under-appreciated by any sell-side analysts.
In my view, in the final analysis sell-side analysts are just that - analysts. They have far less power and market moving effect than than actual buyers. And the analysts have been very slow to change the projected sale numbers based upon current scripts. Or to discuss how the current numbers may change the long-term numbers.
And for mega-cap stocks like GILD (and BIIB, AMGN, CELG, traditional big pharma, etc), it is the pension funds, mutual funds and hedge funds that really make the difference. I am just surprised that the mutual funds and hedge funds have not stepped up to the plate. I usually avoid the mega-caps due to the law of big numbers (though I have a little BRK and AAPL). This one just looks too enticing today. I bought more here.