Gilead earnings: $3.03 per share, vs. expected EPS of $3.15

Gilead Sciences reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts' expectations on Thursday as sales of its hepatitis C drugs came in below estimates.

The pharmaceutical company posted earnings of $3.03 a share ex-items on $7.79 billion in revenue. Analysts expected Gilead to report earnings of about $3.15 a share on $8.12 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

The company also reiterated its full-year guidance and announced that it is raising its dividend by 9.3 percent to 47 cents a share.

Gilead shares were down about 6 percent after hours.

During the first quarter, Gilead's hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi saw $3.02 billion and $1.28 billion in sales, respectively. Analysts had expected $3.13 billion and $1.37 billion in sales, according to a consensus estimate from FactSet.

In March, a federal jury ordered Gilead to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringing on patents for Merck's hepatitis C drugs. The award, however, is far below what Merck had sought in damages.

Merck originally requested 10 percent of U.S. sales of Gilead's drugs during 2015 and the first part of 2016. Gilead saw $23.1 billion in sales of its drugs during 2015.

In January, the pharmaceutical company tapped John Milligan as its new CEO. He had previously served as Gilead's president and chief operating officer.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.