Gilead Sciences Stock Upgraded: This Is the Power of Free

Every day, Wall Street analysts upgrade some stocks, downgrade others, and "initiate coverage" on a few more. But do these analysts even know what they're talking about? Today, we're taking one high-profile Wall Street pick and putting it under the microscope...

Pity investors in Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD). They just cannot seem to catch a break.

After six straight quarters of year-over-year sales declines at its marquee hepatitis C (HCV) treatment business, Gilead stock has been left for dead -- its share price basically flat over the past 12 months despite the rest of the S&P 500 surging ahead 19%. Even a pop at the end of August -- inspired by the company opening its wallet to buy fast-growing cell therapy biotech Kite Pharma -- proved short-lived, and Gilead stock today trades right back where it did before announcing its big acquisition.

Source: Fool.com