William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of IONS Q1 Earnings

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – Equities researchers at William Blair raised their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report issued on Wednesday, March 12th. William Blair analyst M. Minter now forecasts that the company will earn ($0.70) per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of ($1.17). William Blair currently 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $32.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.84 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.71 and its 200 day moving average is $36.79.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% 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.