Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc had return on equity of -70.8%, an operating margin of -40.4%, debt equal to 370.6% of equity and a current ratio of 3.83. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Dec 2014	2015Dec 2015	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	100.0%	100.0%	99.7%	99.6%	98.4%	98.7%	97.6%	98.8%	98.4%	98.3%	98.2%
Operating margin	−22.6%	−44.6%	−71.8%	−67.5%	−35.1%	−22.3%	−26.7%	−5.8%	6.1%	−10.2%	32.6%	−23.6%	−3.7%	−69.8%	−44.9%	−67.4%	−40.4%	−68.0%
Net margin	127.5%	−56.5%	−85.6%	−64.2%	−41.2%	−18.2%	−31.1%	−17.4%	0.1%	45.6%	24.8%	−60.9%	−3.5%	−45.9%	−46.5%	−64.4%	−40.4%	−64.7%
Free-cash-flow margin	−100.2%	−70.8%	−126.2%	0.4%	42.1%	−0.6%	4.7%	−34.4%	27.5%	98.3%	28.0%	0.1%	2.3%	−49.4%	−42.1%	−77.5%	−33.9%	−64.2%
Return on equity	53.2%	−22.8%	−40.8%	−37.0%	−21.6%	−12.3%	−38.5%	−40.2%	0.2%	41.2%	22.1%	−40.1%	−3.8%	−40.1%	−76.3%	−93.1%	−70.8%	−121.7%
Return on assets	23.6%	−10.1%	−16.4%	−12.7%	−8.7%	−4.3%	−9.3%	−6.5%	0.0%	13.7%	9.4%	−15.8%	−1.1%	−10.5%	−13.3%	−15.1%	−11.7%	−17.3%
Asset turnover	0.18	0.18	0.19	0.20	0.21	0.24	0.30	0.37	0.45	0.30	0.38	0.26	0.32	0.23	0.29	0.24	0.29	0.27
Current ratio	5.35	4.56	4.73	5.70	7.52	7.25	5.62	5.96	4.80	7.88	9.97	3.56	9.75	7.07	5.90	8.47	3.83	7.89
Debt to equity	44.3%	63.1%	104.3%	81.5%	40.9%	61.4%	0.3%	503.9%	190.3%	55.5%	53.5%	114.1%	—	208.5%	338.4%	213.0%	370.6%	313.9%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	0.7x	n/m	29.4x	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m
Effective tax rate	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	15.2%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
R&D as % of revenue	110.7%	133.8%	154.5%	151.5%	117.9%	111.6%	112.6%	98.2%	73.4%	68.7%	41.1%	72.8%	78.7%	—	114.2%	127.9%	97.0%	—
SG&A as % of revenue	—	—	—	—	—	—	13.1%	14.0%	21.4%	40.8%	25.5%	48.6%	23.0%	25.6%	29.5%	37.9%	41.7%	60.4%
Capital spending as % of revenue	11.0%	12.2%	10.3%	1.4%	1.1%	3.5%	2.7%	2.1%	6.8%	2.3%	2.8%	4.8%	1.5%	2.7%	3.0%	6.4%	5.5%	7.4%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	−78.6%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	>999%	215.3%	113.2%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0%	0.0%	10.9%	>999%	0.0%	—	—	—	—	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026
Gross margin	99.2%	98.3%	98.9%	99.1%	98.5%	96.1%	98.8%	99.0%
Operating margin	−111.1%	−48.9%	−111.6%	30.9%	−102.2%	−105.5%	−47.7%	−38.2%
Net margin	−105.0%	−46.1%	−111.6%	27.3%	−82.1%	−112.8%	−37.6%	−42.8%
Free-cash-flow margin	−92.7%	−62.5%	−124.1%	30.8%	−87.2%	−78.2%	−331.0%	205.1%
Current ratio	8.91	8.47	9.66	2.87	2.79	3.83	4.10	7.89
Debt to equity	—	204.4%	—	—	—	359.9%	—	—
SG&A as % of revenue	46.1%	38.9%	57.9%	20.0%	61.8%	64.0%	61.1%	56.1%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 3 checks passed · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $3.0bn

Short-term assets $2.5bnLonger-term assets $503m

What it owes, and who funded it · $3.0bn

Short-term liabilities $316mLonger-term liabilities $2.2bnShareholders' equity $440m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $2.5bn of assets due within a year against $316m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $2.5bn short-term assets against $2.2bn of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$594m against $19m of interest.

From Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

35 /100

Weak moat

How hard Ionis Pharmaceuticals's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 0 / 20

Net income has been a median -5.5% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 20 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 98.4%, moving by 0.7 percentage points (standard deviation) across 8 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median -18.5%; its worst year was -74.8%.
Cash conversion 8 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 5 of 10 years, at a median 5.2% of revenue.
Discipline 3 / 20

The diluted share count rose 12.1% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 19.0% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (40 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc.