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Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) rose 4% in after-hours trade following the release of the biopharmaceutical company's better-than-expected first-quarter results and backing of its 2009 sales guidance.

BWS Financial analyst Hamed Khorsand told Dow Jones Newswires that investors had been concerned the economic downturn would weigh on Gilead's sales. However, he said the company's solid first-quarter performance and backing of 2009 sales guidance should alleviate those fears.

Shares rose to $45.59 in late trading after closing Tuesday at $43.73.

The developer of HIV drugs posted net income of $586.6 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with $486.4 million, or 51 cents a share, for the same quarter in 2008. Excluding various items, Gilead would have reported adjusted earnings of 66 cents a share.

Revenue rose 21% to $1.53 billion. The company said that a stronger U.S. dollar pushed worldwide sales down by about $22.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 59 cents a share and revenue of $1.5 billion.

The company said sales of Truvada, which contains the Gilead drug Viread, jumped 23% to $590.4 million. Atripla, which also contains Viread, saw sales leap 57% to $509.9 million.

On a conference call, the company backed it 2009 sales guidance of $5.9 billion to $6 billion.

The first-quarter results and 2009 guidance didn't include the impact of Gilead's acquisition of CV Therapeutics, which was finalized Friday. Gilead said it expects to give guidance incorporating the CV Therapeutics acquisition during its second-quarter conference call.

During Tuesday's call, Gilead said first-quarter sales of CV Therapeutics' chronic angina drug, Ranexa, were $26 million.

Gilead said it had been given that sales figure by CV Therapeutics, and declined to comment further on Ranexa sales.

In March, Gilead agreed to buy CV Therapeutics for $1.4 billion in cash, trumping a previous offer by Japanese drug maker Astellas Pharma. Gilead said the merger will allow it to expand further into the cardiology market.

Also during Tuesday's call, Gilead announced it received the pricing approvals it needed to begin selling its once-daily tablet treatment for HIV, Atripla, in France.

The company expects to begin selling Atripla, which is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY), in France in June.

Best known for its HIV drugs, which are also used to treat hepatitis, Gilead also markets two cardiovascular drugs, Flolan and Letairis. The products are used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.

CV Therapeutics, meanwhile, has two cardiac products on the market: Ranexa and Lexiscan, an agent used in certain types of cardiac stress testing. The firm also has drug candidates targeted at treating pulmonary illnesses and diabetes.

-Val Brickates Kennedy; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

-By Jennifer Hoyt, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2474; jennifer.hoyt@dowjones.com