Q1 EPS Estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals Lifted by Analyst

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 12th. William Blair analyst M. Minter now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of ($0.70) for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($1.17). William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals' current full-year earnings is ($3.50) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals' Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.60) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.43) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.39) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($1.11) EPS.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

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IONS has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $32.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.82 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.00. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $30.23 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $116,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $3,762,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $20,801,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,349,211 shares of the company's stock worth $47,168,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 921,439 shares of the company's stock worth $32,214,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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 antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.

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