Analysts Just Shipped A Substantial Upgrade To Their Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Estimates

Celebrations may be in order for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects. The market seems to be pricing in some improvement in the business too, with the stock up 7.2% over the past week, closing at US$31.71. It will be interesting to see if this latest upgrade is enough to kickstart further buying interest in the stock.

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After the upgrade, the 23 analysts covering Ionis Pharmaceuticals are now predicting revenues of US$750m in 2025. If met, this would reflect an okay 4.4% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are expected to increase slightly, to US$3.06 per share. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$656m and losses of US$3.83 per share in 2025. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.

Check out our latest analysis for Ionis Pharmaceuticals

There was no major change to the consensus price target of US$57.35, perhaps suggesting that the analysts remain concerned about ongoing losses despite the improved earnings and revenue outlook.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. For example, we noticed that Ionis Pharmaceuticals' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 5.9% growth to the end of 2025 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 3.8% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 20% per year. So although Ionis Pharmaceuticals' revenue growth is expected to improve, it is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that analysts reduced their loss per share estimates for this year, reflecting increased optimism around Ionis Pharmaceuticals' prospects. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting revenues to grow slower than the wider market. The lack of change in the price target is puzzling, but with a serious upgrade to this year's earnings expectations, it might be time to take another look at Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Ionis Pharmaceuticals analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.