Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $13.01B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 1.74M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 0.77
• Revenue Growth: 20.39%
• EPS Growth: 34.00%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,069
• Sector: Healthcare
• Sector Strength: 45
• Industry: Biotechnology
• EPS (TTM): -0.80
• Shares Outstanding: 161,974,400
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,548,830
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,740,008
• PEG Ratio: -0.61
• Price to Book (P/B): 8.88
• Price to Sales (P/S): 7.41
• P/FCF Ratio: -9.57
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.00
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 13.42
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 13.59
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -89.72
• 1Y Price Target: $92.67
• Price Target Upside: 13.65% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 14
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 56 Neutral
• Price Target: $84.00 ▲(3.02% Upside)

The score is held back primarily by weak financial performance (ongoing losses, leverage, and negative operating/free cash flow). Offsetting this, technicals are positive and recent updates (raised revenue guidance, product momentum, and multiple Phase 3/regulatory wins) improve the growth outlook, but profitability and cash flow risk remain the key constraint.

Positive Factors

Very high gross margin

A 98.78% TTM gross margin reflects the scalability and low incremental cost of Ionis’s antisense platform and partnered products. Durable high gross margins support reinvestment in R&D and partnerships, improving long-term profitability potential as products scale.

Phase 3 clinical wins

Positive pivotal Phase 3 results for bepirovirsen (GSK-partnered) validate Ionis’s antisense platform in a large global CHB program, enabling planned global regulatory filings and creating durable potential revenue via milestone payments and tiered royalties.

Stronger guidance and cash runway

Upgraded revenue guidance and a planned >$2.1B year-end cash balance provide financing visibility to support launches and multiple late‑stage programs. This diversified funding reduces near-term dilution risk and supports the company’s stated path toward cash-flow breakeven by 2028.

Negative Factors

Persistent operating losses

Material ongoing operating losses signal a prolonged path to profitability; sustained annual losses increase reliance on external financing, can constrain commercial investments, and raise execution risk for multiple simultaneous launches and global regulatory campaigns.

High leverage and weak liquidity signals

A 2.41 debt-to-equity ratio combined with negative operating and free cash flow reduces financial flexibility. Elevated leverage heightens refinancing and interest risks, which can limit capital available for commercialization and R&D if clinical timelines or launches are delayed.

Commercialization patient-ID risk

Significant undiagnosed patient pools for FCS create a structural barrier to revenue realization for Tringolza. Persistent patient identification gaps can slow uptake, raise customer acquisition costs, and compress long-term revenue versus modeled peaks despite product efficacy and approvals.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, a treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of TTR amyloidosis; Olezarsen for patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1. In addition, the company develops medicines for metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, renal diseases, ophthalmic diseases, and cancer. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen Inc.; and collaboration and license agreement with AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis AG, Roche, Janssen Biotech, Inc., and Flamingo Therapeutics, Inc. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.

How the Company Makes Money

Ionis Pharmaceuticals generates revenue primarily through the commercialization of its approved drugs and collaborations with other pharmaceutical companies. The company earns royalties from sales of its marketed products, such as Spinraza (nusinersen), which is licensed to Biogen for spinal muscular atrophy. Additionally, Ionis forms strategic partnerships with other biopharmaceutical companies to co-develop and co-commercialize new therapies, receiving upfront payments, milestone payments upon achieving certain development and regulatory goals, and royalties on future product sales. These partnerships significantly contribute to Ionis's revenue stream, allowing it to leverage its innovative drug development capabilities while sharing the financial risks associated with bringing new therapies to market.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong gross margin (98.78% TTM) is outweighed by persistent losses (net margin -26.51%, EBIT margin -19.71%), high leverage (debt-to-equity 2.41), and weak liquidity signals from negative operating and free cash flow.

Income Statement

Ionis Pharmaceuticals shows a strong gross profit margin of 98.78% in TTM, indicating efficient cost management. However, the company struggles with profitability, as evidenced by a negative net profit margin of -26.51% and EBIT margin of -19.71%. Revenue growth is modest at 2.43% TTM, but the consistent negative margins highlight ongoing challenges in achieving profitability.

Balance Sheet

The company's balance sheet reveals a high debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41 TTM, suggesting significant leverage and potential financial risk. Return on equity is negative at -44.32%, reflecting challenges in generating returns for shareholders. The equity ratio is not provided, but the high leverage indicates a need for improved capital structure.

Cash Flow

Ionis Pharmaceuticals faces cash flow challenges, with negative operating cash flow and free cash flow in TTM. The free cash flow to net income ratio is positive at 1.23, indicating some ability to cover net losses, but the overall negative cash flow growth and operating cash flow coverage ratio of -0.27 highlight liquidity concerns.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	966.96M	705.14M	787.65M	587.37M	810.46M	729.26M
Gross Profit	955.14M	693.92M	778.51M	573.25M	799.61M	717.32M
EBITDA	-144.65M	-353.72M	-235.87M	-227.76M	-5.19M	-111.19M
Net Income	-256.34M	-453.90M	-366.29M	-269.72M	-28.60M	-444.26M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	3.03B	3.00B	2.99B	2.53B	2.61B	2.39B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	2.24B	2.30B	2.33B	2.00B	2.13B	1.89B
Total Debt	1.49B	1.42B	1.45B	1.37B	1.25B	908.93M
Total Liabilities	2.42B	2.42B	2.60B	1.96B	1.84B	1.65B
Stockholders Equity	617.97M	588.35M	386.69M	572.89M	771.74M	743.28M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-302.66M	-546.23M	-335.52M	-294.47M	12.90M	-5.16M
Operating Cash Flow	-247.01M	-500.95M	-307.51M	-274.37M	30.80M	35.89M
Investing Cash Flow	209.94M	-134.03M	-214.13M	-262.64M	194.91M	274.48M
Financing Cash Flow	40.55M	478.06M	644.08M	-55.30M	245.93M	-596.61M

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 81.54
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For IONS, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 81.54 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 79.99, above the 50-day MA of 77.92, and above the 200-day MA of 53.16, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.90 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 56.57 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 50.53 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for IONS.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
ARWR	62 Neutral	$8.77B	-981.10	-0.50%	―	23258.15%	99.12%
RVMD	59 Neutral	$22.94B	-22.62	-60.76%	―	-100.00%	-44.24%
ROIV	59 Neutral	$15.29B	-40.10	-14.73%	―	-83.82%	-109.22%
IONS	56 Neutral	$13.01B	-47.72	-39.99%	―	20.39%	34.00%
BBIO	54 Neutral	$14.89B	-18.35	―	―	62.46%	-73.59%
Sector *	51 Neutral	$7.86B	-0.30	-43.30%	2.27%	22.53%	-2.21%
ASND	46 Neutral	$12.40B	-49.15	―	―	103.32%	47.55%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Corporate Events

Ionis Advances Bepirovirsen After Positive Phase 3 Results

On January 7, 2026, Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported that its partner GSK delivered positive topline data from the pivotal Phase 3 B-Well 1 and B-Well 2 trials of bepirovirsen, an investigational antisense oligonucleotide for chronic hepatitis B, in more than 1,800 patients across 29 countries. The studies met their primary endpoint, showing statistically significant and clinically meaningful functional cure rates – defined as sustained hepatitis B surface antigen loss and undetectable viral DNA after a finite treatment course – with bepirovirsen plus standard of care outperforming standard therapy alone while maintaining an acceptable safety and tolerability profile. Given chronic hepatitis B’s global burden, low cure rates with current lifelong nucleos(t)ide analogue regimens and bepirovirsen’s recognition by regulators in the US, China and Japan, the Phase 3 success strengthens Ionis’s position in RNA-based antivirals, sets the stage for global regulatory submissions starting in the first quarter of 2026, and creates potential future revenue streams through up to $150 million in additional milestones and tiered royalties of 10–12% on any net sales from its 2019 licensing and collaboration agreement with GSK.

The most recent analyst rating on (IONS) stock is a Buy with a $100.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock, see the IONS Stock Forecast page.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Completes $770M Convertible Notes Offering

On November 17, 2025, Ionis Pharmaceuticals completed a private offering of $770 million in 0.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030. The proceeds, estimated at $751.2 million after expenses, are intended for repurchasing existing 2026 Notes and general corporate purposes. This strategic financial move is expected to strengthen Ionis’s market position by refinancing existing debt and potentially impacting its stock price through market activities related to the repurchase transactions.

The most recent analyst rating on (IONS) stock is a Hold with a $65.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock, see the IONS Stock Forecast page.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Phase 3 Study Results

On November 8, 2025, Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from the Phase 3 CORE and CORE2 studies of olezarsen for severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG). The studies showed a significant reduction in fasting triglyceride levels and acute pancreatitis events, with olezarsen achieving up to a 72% reduction in triglyceride levels at six months, sustained through 12 months. These results, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, indicate olezarsen’s potential to transform sHTG treatment by significantly reducing the risk of acute pancreatitis, positioning Ionis favorably in the market.

The most recent analyst rating on (IONS) stock is a Buy with a $99.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock, see the IONS Stock Forecast page.