Stocks · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IONS
$43.54 -1.05% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $7.24B
Weak trend
Next earnings report: Nov 4, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Operating margin narrowed to -68.1% from -28.2% a year earlier.
- The diluted share count fell 9.3% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Healthcare sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth17Very weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 21%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 36%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 6%
Quality55Neutral
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 50%
- Gross marginTop 9%
- Operating marginBottom 33%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 26%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 41%
- Interest coverBottom 38%
Value59Neutral
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 50%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 42%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 1%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 29%
Momentum14Very weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 32%
- 6-month returnBottom 8%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 20%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 28%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 14%
Revisions70Positive
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 20%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 35%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 23%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 39%
Stability76Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 34%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 26%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 38%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 41%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 47.5% | -7.4% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 98.9% | 98.2% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | -28.2% | -68.1% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -30.9% | -64.0% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -7.4% | 47.5% | ↓ | Bottom 21% |
| Gross margin | 98.2% | 98.9% | ↓ | Top 9% |
| Operating margin | -68.1% | -28.2% | ↓ | Bottom 33% |
| Net margin | -64.6% | -28.4% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -64.0% | -30.9% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | -20.4% | — | Bottom 50% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 17.1% | — | Top 36% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -2.3%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 13.7%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +19.4 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.48×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- -6.6×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -3.69%
- Shareholder yield
- -3.69%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -9.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +5.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 7 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +25.9%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +0.3%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 6 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $84.08
- Target vs current price
- +93.1%
- Analysts with a rating
- 33
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 58%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | +36.7% | -2.3% | -0.4% | +15.0% | — |
| Apr 29, 2026 | +34.1% | +4.2% | +4.8% | +6.6% | -21.2% |
| Feb 25, 2026 | -14.0% | -5.3% | -7.9% | -18.5% | -12.2% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | +47.0% | -2.3% | -0.9% | +10.0% | +10.1% |
| Jul 30, 2025 | +218.5% | +4.6% | +3.8% | +1.7% | +72.4% |
| Apr 30, 2025 | +32.4% | +3.0% | +6.9% | +8.8% | +41.7% |
| Feb 19, 2025 | +39.4% | -0.4% | -0.3% | +3.1% | +2.0% |
| Nov 6, 2024 | +18.1% | +0.6% | -2.7% | -4.3% | -18.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | -$0.69 | -$1.09 | +36.7% | $268.0M |
| Apr 29, 2026 | -$0.56 | -$0.85 | +34.1% | $246.0M |
| Feb 25, 2026 | -$1.41 | -$1.24 | -14.0% | $203.0M |
| Oct 29, 2025 | -$0.61 | -$1.15 | +47.0% | $156.7M |
| Jul 30, 2025 | $0.86 | $0.27 | +218.5% | $452.0M |
| Apr 30, 2025 | -$0.75 | -$1.11 | +32.4% | $131.6M |
| Feb 19, 2025 | -$0.66 | -$1.09 | +39.4% | $226.6M |
| Nov 6, 2024 | -$0.95 | -$1.16 | +18.1% | $133.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / EBITDA | 2.1× | — | — | Top 1% |
| EV / Sales | 10.65× | — | — | Bottom 29% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -7.72% | — | — | Bottom 42% |
| Earnings yield | -7.95% | — | — | Top 50% |
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -12.5%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -4.2%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -19.2%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -38.1%
- RSI (14)
- 30.4
- Relative volume
- 0.49×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 46.6%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 74th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.92
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.27
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -49.7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -52.4%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25, 2021 | Apr 8, 2025 | -60.0% | 1056 days | 105 days (Sep 9, 2025) |
| Feb 6, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 | -49.7% | 164 days | Not yet recovered |
| Nov 17, 2020 | Dec 11, 2020 | -12.8% | 17 days | 5 days (Dec 18, 2020) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $7.24B
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$3.46
- Revenue (TTM)
- $873.8M
- 52-week range
- $43.01 – $86.74
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $810.5M | $587.4M | $787.6M | $705.1M | $944.0M |
| Gross profit | $799.6M | $573.3M | $778.5M | $693.9M | $928.0M |
| Operating income | -$30.2M | -$410.2M | -$353.7M | -$475.1M | -$382.0M |
| Net income | -$28.6M | -$269.7M | -$366.3M | -$453.9M | -$381.0M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.20 | -$1.90 | -$2.56 | -$3.04 | -$2.38 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $133.8M | $226.6M | $131.6M | $452.0M | $156.7M | $203.0M | $246.1M | $267.9M |
| Net income | -$140.5M | -$104.3M | -$146.9M | $123.6M | -$128.6M | -$229.0M | -$92.5M | -$114.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.95 | -$0.66 | -$0.93 | $0.68 | -$0.80 | -$1.41 | -$0.56 | -$0.69 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $30.8M | -$274.4M | -$307.5M | -$500.9M | -$268.6M |
| Capital expenditure | -$17.9M | -$20.1M | -$28.0M | -$45.3M | -$51.4M |
| Free cash flow | $12.9M | -$294.5M | -$335.5M | -$546.2M | -$320.0M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $85.7M | $6.4M | $49.4M | $522.7M | $192.6M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $2.05B
- Total assets
- $2.99B
- Total liabilities
- $2.56B
- Total debt
- $2.42B
- Net debt
- $2.07B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $439.7M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 20,890,252
- Days to cover
- 5.20
- Change vs previous report
- -0.2%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.