Stocks · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated LGND
$306.77 +1.26% Close, Oct 5, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $6.07B
Strong growthHigh qualityStrong trendLow risk
Next earnings report: Nov 5, 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 widened to 34.7% from -18.3% a year earlier.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $290.5M, up 54.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from 51.2% a quarter earlier.
- The diluted share count rose 9.6% in a year.
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 6, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 15%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 7%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 47%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 21%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 26%
- Gross marginTop 8%
- Operating marginTop 5%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 17%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 12%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 41%
- Interest coverTop 10%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 17%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 29%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 25%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 19%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 50%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 28%
- 6-month returnTop 21%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 22%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 11%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 10%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 20%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 49%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 42%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 21%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 3%
- 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) | 51.2% | 54.9% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 87.7% | 98.6% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | -18.3% | 34.7% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 21.3% | 45.2% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 54.9% | 51.2% | ↑ | Top 15% |
| Gross margin | 98.6% | 87.7% | ↑ | Top 8% |
| Operating margin | 34.7% | -18.3% | ↑ | Top 5% |
| Net margin | 67.9% | -40.4% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 45.2% | 21.3% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 3.9% | — | Top 26% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 11.0% | — | Top 47% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.67×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 3.0%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 18.3%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +11.1 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.46×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 16.3×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -2.60%
- Shareholder yield
- -2.60%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +9.6%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +7.2%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 5 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +25.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +2.7%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $339.43
- Target vs current price
- +10.6%
- Analysts with a rating
- 18
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 72%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | +17.9% | -0.8% | -3.1% | -5.2% | — |
| May 14, 2026 | -11.4% | -1.0% | -1.6% | +15.1% | +33.7% |
| Feb 26, 2026 | +38.4% | +2.5% | +9.2% | +6.9% | +16.1% |
| Nov 6, 2025 | +56.9% | +9.4% | +8.0% | -1.0% | +4.4% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | +12.7% | +2.8% | +9.6% | +17.8% | +31.4% |
| May 8, 2025 | +9.9% | -2.9% | -0.5% | -1.4% | +28.2% |
| Feb 27, 2025 | -219.7% | +0.6% | +0.3% | -6.0% | -11.9% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | -128.9% | +11.1% | +4.4% | +5.7% | +0.4% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | $2.37 | $2.01 | +17.9% | $63.7M |
| May 14, 2026 | $1.63 | $1.84 | -11.4% | $51.7M |
| Feb 26, 2026 | $2.02 | $1.46 | +38.4% | $59.7M |
| Nov 6, 2025 | $3.09 | $1.97 | +56.9% | $115.5M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | $1.60 | $1.42 | +12.7% | $47.6M |
| May 8, 2025 | $1.33 | $1.21 | +9.9% | $45.3M |
| Feb 27, 2025 | -$1.64 | $1.37 | -219.7% | $42.8M |
| Nov 7, 2024 | -$0.39 | $1.35 | -128.9% | $51.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 32.8× | 34.0× | 47th | Top 17% |
| P/E (forward) | 33.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 22.6× | — | — | Top 25% |
| EV / Sales | 21.33× | — | — | Bottom 19% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.16% | — | — | Top 29% |
| Earnings yield | 3.05% | — | — | Top 17% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 15.5× – 97.8× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
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
- 10
- Days above the 200-day average
- 332
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.9%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +4.3%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +5.1%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +26.6%
- RSI (14)
- 60.0
- Relative volume
- 0.61×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 28.7%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 6th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.93
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.42
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -4.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -25.6%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 9, 2021 | Jun 13, 2022 | -65.5% | 338 days | 775 days (Jul 17, 2025) |
| Oct 7, 2020 | Oct 21, 2020 | -22.6% | 10 days | 44 days (Dec 23, 2020) |
| Jul 9, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | -14.7% | 48 days | Not yet recovered |
| Apr 27, 2026 | May 19, 2026 | -14.1% | 16 days | 14 days (Jun 9, 2026) |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Feb 12, 2026 | -13.2% | 64 days | 17 days (Mar 10, 2026) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $6.07B
- P/E (TTM)
- 32.8
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $9.35
- Revenue (TTM)
- $290.5M
- 52-week range
- $175.89 – $326.63
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $241.5M | $196.2M | $131.3M | $167.1M | $268.1M |
| Gross profit | $179.4M | $143.4M | $96.3M | $156.1M | $261.5M |
| Operating income | $103.9M | $3.0M | $11.9M | -$22.6M | $47.2M |
| Net income | $57.1M | -$33.4M | $52.2M | -$4.0M | $124.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.34 | -$1.98 | $2.94 | -$0.22 | $6.13 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $51.8M | $42.8M | $45.3M | $47.6M | $115.5M | $59.7M | $51.7M | $63.7M |
| Net income | -$7.2M | -$31.1M | -$42.5M | $4.8M | $117.3M | $44.8M | -$13.3M | $48.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.39 | -$1.64 | -$2.21 | $0.24 | $5.68 | $2.12 | -$0.67 | $2.22 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $78.8M | $137.8M | $49.6M | $97.0M | $49.4M |
| Capital expenditure | -$8.8M | -$17.9M | -$53.8M | -$19.6M | -$452,000 |
| Free cash flow | $70.0M | $119.9M | -$4.3M | $77.4M | $48.9M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $15.3M | $3.2M | $22.4M | $37.1M | $99.9M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $1.36B
- Total assets
- $2.19B
- Total liabilities
- $1.22B
- Total debt
- $1.13B
- Net debt
- $124.8M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $967.5M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2010 | $0.12 | — |
| Apr 3, 2007 | $2.50 | Apr 19, 2007 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 2,632,434
- Days to cover
- 13.53
- Change vs previous report
- +6.1%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Nov 2, 2022
- 1,603-for-1,000
- Nov 19, 2010
- 1-for-6