# Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/IONS

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:29:22.899Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $44.12 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 7

- Operating margin variation: 1.31×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -0.13×

- FY2017: 0.06×

- FY2018: -0.10×

- FY2019: 0.33×

- FY2020: -0.24×

- FY2021: -0.04×

- FY2022: -0.70×

- FY2023: -0.45×

- FY2024: -0.67×

- FY2025: -0.40×

### moat: fail

- Years with nonpositive invested capital use equity plus debt and leases; positive earnings with no positive capital are shown above 100%.

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -7.4%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -18.7%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 0.2 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 98.5%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 98.3%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 9

- Capital spending / revenue: 3.5%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -85.6%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -6.1%

- FY2017: 2.8%

- FY2018: -2.9%

- FY2019: 14.2%

- FY2020: -8.8%

- FY2021: -1.2%

- FY2022: -16.7%

- FY2023: -15.2%

- FY2024: -18.7%

- FY2025: -70.8%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$1.5B

- Net income, five-year total: -$1.5B

- Return on incremental invested capital: -125.2%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -0.9 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -3.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 8.0%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: -$27M

- FY2022: -$268M

- FY2023: -$366M

- FY2024: -$477M

- FY2025: -$381M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: -2.9% vs -18.7%

- Per-share earnings: -0.72 to -2.56 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 2.9%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 2.8%

- Market cap gain: $7.1B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$1.4B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 2.9%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 2.8%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$1.84

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$0.72

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$2.56

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.20

- Average buyback yield: 0.5%

- Buyback history: 4 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $9.7M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$1.5B

- ROIC, first three-year median: -2.9%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -18.7%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -$0.72

- FY2017: $0.00

- FY2018: $2.04

- FY2019: $1.92

- FY2020: -$3.49

- FY2021: -$0.20

- FY2022: -$1.90

- FY2023: -$2.56

- FY2024: -$3.04

- FY2025: -$2.38

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -3.2%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.53×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.00×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 2.8%

- FY2017: -13.1%

- FY2018: -12.3%

- FY2019: -1.6%

- FY2020: -21.9%

- FY2021: -2.3%

- FY2022: 0.2%

- FY2023: -2.0%

- FY2024: 1.6%

- FY2025: -3.2%

## Holders

- [William Browne](https://gigainvestors.com/TB): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 47% since Nov 2025 · "Ionis Pharmaceuticals falls after Pelacarsen fails key Phase 3 heart trial" (seekingalpha.com, Sep 2026) · sales +33.9%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:57.649Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-05-01: Ionis Q1 Earnings and Sales Top Estimates, Stock Gains on Raised '25 View ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ionis-q1-earnings-sales-top-144200942.html))

- 2025-09-03: IONS Hits 52-Week High on Tryngolza's Success in Lowering Triglyceride ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ions-hits-52-week-high-144700735.html))

- 2025-10-29: Ionis raises 2025 revenue guidance to $900M as TRYNGOLZA and DAWNZERA launches accelerate ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4510929-ionis-raises-2025-revenue-guidance-to-900m-as-tryngolza-and-dawnzera-launches-accelerate?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-06-28: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) Is Up 9.5% After FDA Expands Tryngolza Label For Severe Hypertriglyceridemia ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/ionis-pharmaceuticals-ions-9-5-031101725.html))

- 2026-07-23: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) Misses A Key Trial Endpoint, Is The Valuation Now Too Harsh? ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/ionis-pharmaceuticals-ions-misses-key-201048523.html))

- 2026-09-04: Ionis Pharmaceuticals falls after Pelacarsen fails key Phase 3 heart trial ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4640472-ionis-pharmaceuticals-falls-after-pelacarsen-fails-key-phase-3-heart-trial?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +33.9%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2016: $347M 

- FY2017: $514M 

- FY2018: $600M 

- FY2019: $1.1B 

- FY2020: $729M 

- FY2021: $810M 

- FY2022: $587M 

- FY2023: $788M 

- FY2024: $705M 

- FY2025: $944M 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 98.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2016: 0.7% 

- FY2018: 99.7% 

- FY2019: 99.6% 

- FY2020: 98.4% 

- FY2021: 98.7% 

- FY2022: 97.6% 

- FY2023: 98.8% 

- FY2024: 98.4% 

- FY2025: 98.3% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in biotechnology; annual sales are USD 944 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: revenue 944000000; grossProfit 928000000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); IONS.US: Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, provides RNA-targeted medicines in the United States. The company offers TRYNGOLZA reduces triglyceride levels in adults with familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and acute pancreatitis; DAWNZERA for prophylaxis to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema in adults; WAINUA for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-medicated amyloidosis (ATTRv-PN) in adults; and SPINRAZA for pediatric and adult patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). It also provides QALSODY for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); TEGSEDI for the treatment of ATTRv-PN in adults; and WAYLIVRA for treatment for FCS and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops products under Phase 3 clinical trials, such as Olezarsen for patients with hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG) and cardiovascular disease (CVD); and Zilganerse, a potential treatment for people with genetically confirmed Alexander disease, as well as ION582 which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the potential treatment of AS, a rare genetic neurological disease. In addition, the company develops Eplontersen to degrade mutant and wild-type TTR mRNA through binding to the TTR mRNA; Pelacarsen to inhibit the production of apolipoprotein(a) in the liver to offer a direct approach for reducing lipoprotein(a); Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus; Sefaxersen to reduce the production of complement factor B and lower activation of the alternative complement pathway; and Ulefnersen to reduce the production of the fused in sarcoma, as well as other mid-stage pipeline investigational medicines. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with GSK, AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Roche, as well as with Metagenomi. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 98.3% to 98.8% during 2023–25; it lost 7.4% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 98.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 98.4%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 98.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,-0.0608422890494442],[2017,0.028014485172172754],[2018,-0.028690638712101712],[2019,0.14247873706430172],[2020,-0.08754331100295977],[2021,-0.011944917098650627],[2022,-0.16685747048785787],[2023,-0.1518546373405426],[2024,-0.18719649163058874],[2025,-0.7077159755542736]]; median -0.07419280002620199. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 98% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm (filed 2026-02-26); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.9866223459385828],[2022,0.9759673253689771],[2023,0.9884047041377673]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 3 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2017: growth capex 29508000; upkeep 8349000; owner earnings 346000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 85.28323699421965.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2018: growth capex 5124000; upkeep 12528000; owner earnings 273741000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.018718423619406666.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2019: growth capex 20288000; upkeep 15994000; owner earnings 294000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.06900680272108843.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,165610000],[2020,0],[2021,16725000],[2022,10953000],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 0.6% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); IONS.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 0.609 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 7.5 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Closing price 44.12 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 5.8996312730454346; price multiple 7.478433474576271. FY2025 cash earnings/share -2.3811011811761764. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $25.98 per share

- 2016-11: $43.76 per share

- 2016-12: $47.83 per share

- 2017-01: $44.50 per share

- 2017-02: $49.77 per share

- 2017-03: $40.20 per share

- 2017-04: $48.19 per share

- 2017-05: $45.79 per share

- 2017-06: $50.87 per share

- 2017-07: $52.40 per share

- 2017-08: $53.62 per share

- 2017-09: $50.70 per share

- 2017-10: $57.11 per share

- 2017-11: $55.49 per share

- 2017-12: $50.30 per share

- 2018-01: $52.52 per share

- 2018-02: $52.82 per share

- 2018-03: $44.08 per share

- 2018-04: $43.03 per share

- 2018-05: $46.65 per share

- 2018-06: $41.67 per share

- 2018-07: $43.68 per share

- 2018-08: $45.69 per share

- 2018-09: $51.58 per share

- 2018-10: $49.55 per share

- 2018-11: $58.29 per share

- 2018-12: $54.06 per share

- 2019-01: $58.00 per share

- 2019-02: $70.99 per share

- 2019-03: $81.17 per share

- 2019-04: $74.33 per share

- 2019-05: $65.60 per share

- 2019-06: $64.27 per share

- 2019-07: $65.86 per share

- 2019-08: $63.21 per share

- 2019-09: $59.91 per share

- 2019-10: $55.72 per share

- 2019-11: $63.96 per share

- 2019-12: $60.41 per share

- 2020-01: $58.32 per share

- 2020-02: $50.78 per share

- 2020-03: $47.28 per share

- 2020-04: $55.53 per share

- 2020-05: $56.21 per share

- 2020-06: $58.96 per share

- 2020-07: $57.56 per share

- 2020-08: $54.50 per share

- 2020-09: $47.45 per share

- 2020-10: $46.95 per share

- 2020-11: $50.53 per share

- 2020-12: $56.54 per share

- 2021-01: $60.07 per share

- 2021-02: $52.40 per share

- 2021-03: $44.96 per share

- 2021-04: $42.82 per share

- 2021-05: $37.25 per share

- 2021-06: $39.89 per share

- 2021-07: $37.14 per share

- 2021-08: $39.76 per share

- 2021-09: $33.54 per share

- 2021-10: $31.87 per share

- 2021-11: $26.50 per share

- 2021-12: $30.43 per share

- 2022-01: $31.80 per share

- 2022-02: $33.38 per share

- 2022-03: $37.04 per share

- 2022-04: $36.76 per share

- 2022-05: $36.52 per share

- 2022-06: $37.02 per share

- 2022-07: $37.56 per share

- 2022-08: $42.52 per share

- 2022-09: $44.23 per share

- 2022-10: $44.20 per share

- 2022-11: $40.79 per share

- 2022-12: $37.77 per share

- 2023-01: $39.87 per share

- 2023-02: $35.90 per share

- 2023-03: $35.74 per share

- 2023-04: $35.37 per share

- 2023-05: $40.90 per share

- 2023-06: $41.03 per share

- 2023-07: $41.43 per share

- 2023-08: $40.27 per share

- 2023-09: $45.36 per share

- 2023-10: $44.27 per share

- 2023-11: $49.47 per share

- 2023-12: $50.59 per share

- 2024-01: $51.39 per share

- 2024-02: $45.21 per share

- 2024-03: $43.35 per share

- 2024-04: $41.26 per share

- 2024-05: $37.57 per share

- 2024-06: $47.66 per share

- 2024-07: $49.46 per share

- 2024-08: $47.68 per share

- 2024-09: $40.06 per share

- 2024-10: $38.39 per share

- 2024-11: $35.73 per share

- 2024-12: $34.96 per share

- 2025-01: $31.90 per share

- 2025-02: $33.19 per share

- 2025-03: $30.17 per share

- 2025-04: $30.71 per share

- 2025-05: $33.51 per share

- 2025-06: $39.51 per share

- 2025-07: $42.98 per share

- 2025-08: $42.64 per share

- 2025-09: $65.42 per share

- 2025-10: $74.30 per share

- 2025-11: $82.73 per share

- 2025-12: $79.11 per share

- 2026-01: $82.67 per share

- 2026-02: $81.15 per share

- 2026-03: $75.09 per share

- 2026-04: $74.76 per share

- 2026-05: $76.50 per share

- 2026-06: $79.29 per share

- 2026-07: $51.77 per share

- 2026-08: $60.36 per share

- 2026-09: $44.65 per share

- 2026-10: $44.12 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2019: low $15.74 per share, central $15.75 per share, high $15.76 per share

- FY2020: low $13.50 per share, central $13.52 per share, high $13.53 per share

- FY2021: low $14.94 per share, central $14.96 per share, high $14.97 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874015/000087401526000115/form10k.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-26.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations

- [William Browne](https://gigainvestors.com/TB): 2,280,311 IONS shares; USD 180,806,000 reported position value; 13.7% of portfolio; add; quarter 2026 Q2.

# IONS — Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Held by 1 investor · USD 180,806,000 total · 2026 Q2 · reported price USD 79.29 (split-adjusted).
Page: https://gigainvestors.com/s/IONS

## Holders (2026 Q2)

| Investor | Value | % of their portfolio | This quarter |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| William Browne (https://gigainvestors.com/TB) | USD 180,806,000 | 14% | add +0.21% |

## Total held by quarter

- 2024 Q1: USD 149,760,205 · 1 holder · USD 43.35
- 2024 Q2: USD 164,649,858 · 1 holder · USD 47.66
- 2024 Q3: USD 138,394,321 · 1 holder · USD 40.06
- 2024 Q4: USD 113,580,250 · 1 holder · USD 34.96
- 2025 Q1: USD 90,012,738 · 1 holder · USD 30.17
- 2025 Q2: USD 114,260,865 · 1 holder · USD 39.51
- 2025 Q3: USD 189,797,551 · 1 holder · USD 65.42
- 2025 Q4: USD 195,000,612 · 1 holder · USD 79.11
- 2026 Q1: USD 170,876,681 · 1 holder · USD 75.09
- 2026 Q2: USD 180,806,000 · 1 holder · USD 79.29