Forensic Analysis · Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals / Biotech · as of Jun 27, 2026
IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC (IONS)
A forensic read on IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.1
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-58.7%
ROE
$13.4B
Market cap
IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 1.1, placing it in the Grey zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-11%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -11% and rising from -17% — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+4.3%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +13% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+4.3%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~4.3% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~13%.
stoppedShareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $91M of buybacks + dividends in FY2020, but ~$0 in FY2022. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash; understand why before reading it as neutral.
+19.2%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +19.2% relative to their average in FY2025 — the accrual component of earnings. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit sits in receivables, inventory or capitalized costs rather than cash. The cash-flow cross-check agrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by -7% of net operating assets.
14% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 14% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.84 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-40.4%
Debt / Equity3.60x
Free Cash Flow$-320.0M
Latest Revenue$943.7M
Return on Equity-78.0%
Revenue Growth YoY+33.8%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about IONS's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown