Brian Acker, CAGilead Sciences Inc.GILDPAST TOP PICKFeb 06, 2017

He had owned it for 10 years at a time when it had a blockbuster drug that cured hepatitis. Gilead took profits and invested them into HIV drugs. As with other drug companies holding patents on blockbuster drugs with expiry dates, don't buy this one.

He waited a long time to see performance, but patience paid off. Earnings are accelerating, fueled by their HIV platform.

Hitting 52-week highs. Caught his attention because last week they beat top and bottom lines. After consolidating 9 years, it's starting to break out. Doesn't know this well enough to see if this breakout will hold, but worth watching.

The business isn't worth as much as the stock is selling, even though shares have recently bounced back.

High flyer because of Hep C, so successful it isn't needed on an ongoing basis. Its HIV drug was equally successful. Ironically, success impacted growth of those drugs negatively. Decent dividend. 

Healthcare is down 2% year. He likes the devices in HC, with Stryker his top pick. Surgeries are coming back, and the company has a new suite of products coming.

It's a biopharma which as a group did very well last year. Compare that to the smaller biotechs which have not done well the past 3 years. This year, biopharma and staples have underperformed. This boasts a high free cash flow yield and has a great product cycle coming. 

Chart pattern indicating weakness in the company.
Risk lower than the past year.
$60 share price a good time to buy. 

In past years, biotech was the safe trade, but this year risk is back, so these stocks have fallen out of favour. Also, there are so many drugs in trials now and big pharma needs new product. She's looking at Gilead and Moderna, because they have low PEs and alot of drugs in development. However, the overall sector is risky. 

Has long owned this, because it's a value stock and keeps raising its dividend.

It is a biotech company well known for a cure for Hepatitis C which is off patent now. It made several acquisitions and has built out an HIV franchise. He needs to see execution on the oncology platform and elsewhere.

No new drugs or trials. Doing nothing interesting. Prefers Eli Lilly.