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Earnings Update: Here's Why Analysts Just Lifted Their Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target To US$81.91

Simply Wall St · 11/01/2025 13:03

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) defied analyst predictions to release its third-quarter results, which were ahead of market expectations. The results were impressive, with revenues of US$157m exceeding analyst forecasts by 20%, and statutory losses of US$0.80 were likewise much smaller than the analysts had forecast. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

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NasdaqGS:IONS Earnings and Revenue Growth November 1st 2025

Taking into account the latest results, the 23 analysts covering Ionis Pharmaceuticals provided consensus estimates of US$909.4m revenue in 2026, which would reflect a noticeable 6.0% decline over the past 12 months. Losses are forecast to balloon 98% to US$3.14 per share. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$899.2m and losses of US$3.15 per share in 2026.

View our latest analysis for Ionis Pharmaceuticals

The average price target fell 6.3% to US$81.91, with the ongoing losses seemingly a concern for the analysts, despite the lack of real change to the earnings forecasts. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Ionis Pharmaceuticals at US$117 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$46.00. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 4.8% by the end of 2026. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 1.7% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 22% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Ionis Pharmaceuticals is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that the analysts made no changes to their forecasts for a loss next year. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Ionis Pharmaceuticals' revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analysts clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You can also see our analysis of Ionis Pharmaceuticals' Board and CEO remuneration and experience, and whether company insiders have been buying stock.