Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $13.84B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 2.07M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 0.78
• Revenue Growth: 20.39%
• EPS Growth: 34.00%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,069
• Sector: Healthcare
• Sector Strength: 45
• Industry: Biotechnology
• EPS (TTM): -1.41
• Shares Outstanding: 161,974,400
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,757,512
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 2,070,368
• PEG Ratio: 1.53
• Price to Book (P/B): 25.88
• Price to Sales (P/S): 13.41
• P/FCF Ratio: -39.55
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.15
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 16.89
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 17.18
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -55.31
• 1Y Price Target: $95.86
• Price Target Upside: 18.93% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 15
• EPS Forecast (FY): -3.14
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $914.98M

• Rating: 53 Neutral
• Price Target: $82.00 ▲(1.74% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/27/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/27/26

The score is held down primarily by weak financial performance (ongoing losses, negative free cash flow, and materially higher leverage). This is partly offset by a strong and optimistic earnings-call outlook driven by pipeline/launch momentum and growth guidance, while technicals are mixed and valuation remains constrained by negative earnings.

Positive Factors

Validated ASO platform & partner successes

Positive Phase III partner readouts (bepirovirsen) validate Ionis’s antisense platform, strengthening partner confidence and increasing the likelihood of future milestones, royalties and licensing deals. This validation reduces program-level risk and supports durable upside from collaborations and commercial partnerships.

High gross margins and diversified revenue mix

Exceptionally high gross margins (~98%) combined with a roughly even split between product sales and collaboration revenues create resilient unit economics and diversified cash sources. Recurring royalties and milestone streams smooth revenue volatility and underpin longer-term funding for R&D and commercialization.

Commercial execution and launch readiness

Successful launches (TRYNGOLZA, DAWNZERA) and an established field team (~200 reps) demonstrate Ionis’s ability to commercialize independently. This persistent commercial capability supports sustainable product revenue growth across multiple launches and reduces reliance on partners for market access over the coming years.

Negative Factors

Materially elevated leverage

Substantially higher debt relative to equity meaningfully reduces financial flexibility. In a biotech context with binary trial and approval outcomes, elevated leverage increases refinancing, interest and covenant risk, constraining the company’s ability to fund development or withstand adverse trial/regulatory results without dilutive financing.

Persistent negative cash generation

Multi-year negative operating and free cash flow means Ionis remains a cash consumer during commercialization scale-up. Continued cash burn elevates reliance on external financing or partner milestones, increasing dilution or leverage risk and making execution on launches and trials contingent on securing funds.

Sustained operating losses and planned cash repayment

Management expects continued large operating losses while investing in launches, and a substantial planned cash repayment cuts year‑end liquidity. This combination pressures runway and forces tradeoffs between commercial investment and balance‑sheet repair, heightening execution and financing risk over the medium term.

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

Financial statements show persistent operating losses and multi-year negative free cash flow, alongside a sharp rise in leverage (debt-to-equity ~5.8x in 2025). While gross margins are exceptionally strong (~98%) and losses improved vs. 2024, continued cash burn and increased balance-sheet risk keep the financial profile weak.

Income Statement

Revenue has been volatile and recently weak (down ~2% in 2025 after a ~10% decline in 2024), and profitability remains a key issue. Despite exceptionally strong gross margins (~98% consistently), the company is running large operating losses, with 2025 net margin around -40% (improved vs. 2024’s roughly -64%, but still deeply negative). The main strength is the high gross profit profile, but the earnings trajectory shows sustained inability to cover operating expenses.

Balance Sheet

Leverage has risen materially, with total debt increasing sharply to ~$2.83B in 2025 while equity is relatively small (~$0.49B), pushing debt-to-equity to ~5.8x (up from ~2.4x in 2024). Returns to shareholders are negative across the period due to net losses (2025 return on equity roughly -78%). The asset base is sizeable (~$3.52B), but the combination of elevated leverage and ongoing losses increases balance-sheet risk and reduces flexibility.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is weak: operating cash flow and free cash flow are negative in 2022–2025, including about -$269M operating cash flow and -$320M free cash flow in 2025. While cash burn improved versus 2024 (less negative), the business is still consuming cash rather than producing it. A modest positive is that free cash flow has generally been less negative than net income in the last several years, but the overall picture remains one of continued funding needs.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	944.00M	705.14M	787.65M	587.37M	810.46M
Gross Profit	928.00M	693.92M	778.51M	573.25M	799.61M
EBITDA	-382.00M	-353.72M	-235.87M	-227.76M	-5.19M
Net Income	-381.00M	-453.90M	-366.29M	-269.72M	-28.60M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	3.52B	3.00B	2.99B	2.53B	2.61B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	2.68B	2.30B	2.33B	2.00B	2.13B
Total Debt	2.83B	1.42B	1.45B	1.37B	1.25B
Total Liabilities	3.04B	2.42B	2.60B	1.96B	1.84B
Stockholders Equity	489.00M	588.35M	386.69M	572.89M	771.74M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-320.03M	-546.23M	-335.52M	-294.47M	12.90M
Operating Cash Flow	-268.58M	-500.95M	-307.51M	-274.37M	30.80M
Investing Cash Flow	-277.78M	-134.03M	-214.13M	-262.64M	194.91M
Financing Cash Flow	675.84M	478.06M	644.08M	-55.30M	245.93M

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Neutral
• Last Price: 80.60
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For IONS, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 80.6 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 83.39, below the 50-day MA of 81.23, and above the 200-day MA of 61.04, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.54 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 45.70 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 70.97 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for IONS.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
ARWR	69 Neutral	$8.92B	40.06	65.14%	―	23258.15%	99.12%
ROIV	61 Neutral	$20.23B	-24.53	-17.11%	―	-83.82%	-109.22%
RVMD	59 Neutral	$20.27B	-19.93	-58.07%	―	-100.00%	-44.24%
ASND	57 Neutral	$14.42B	-54.32	―	―	103.32%	47.55%
IONS	53 Neutral	$13.84B	-32.81	-70.73%	―	20.39%	34.00%
Sector *	51 Neutral	$7.86B	-0.30	-43.30%	2.27%	22.53%	-2.21%
BBIO	50 Neutral	$13.16B	-17.58	―	―	62.46%	-73.59%

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.