Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
Health Care · Biotechnology · NASDAQ
Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a pioneer in RNA-targeted therapies, transitioning into a commercial-stage biotech with a pipeline focused on neurology and cardiometabolic diseases.
What Ionis Pharmaceuticals does
Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted medicines for serious diseases. The company has evolved into a fully integrated commercial-stage firm with a portfolio of seven marketed medicines and a robust pipeline spanning neurology, cardiometabolic diseases, and other high-need areas. Ionis utilizes proprietary technologies, including Ligand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA), to develop innovative therapeutics.
Themes: RNA therapeutics, neurology, cardiometabolic diseases, antisense oligonucleotides, rare diseases, commercial-stage biotech
Fundamentals
- Price$43.30 as of 2026-10-08 close
- Market cap$7.2B as of 2026-07-23 (share count; price 2026-10-08)
- 1-year return-38.1% 2025-10-08 close $69.96 → 2026-10-08 close $43.30
- P/En/a negative earnings
- Net margin-40.4% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- ROE-78.0% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- Debt / equity4.35 as of 2026-09-02
- Revenue growth (YoY)-7.5% as of 2026-09-02
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+17.1% SEC XBRL
- Beta0.70 as of 2026-09-02
- Last reported earnings2026-07-29 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
How IONS compares in its sector
- net profit marginmiddle range 430 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-02
- operating marginmiddle range 417 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-02
- return on equitybottom 25% 510 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-02
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 402 covered Health Care peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)bottom 10% 494 covered Health Care peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Health Care companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
How Ionis Pharmaceuticals looks technically
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) is trading 37.9% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend. Its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 65 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal. A strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 45, with sellers in control. Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 31, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bullish about 5 trading days ago (its momentum flipped positive). It just made a new 20-day low, breaking below its recent trading range. It is 1.6% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year).
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 37.9% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend | -37.9% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $52.97 | $52.97 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $69.76 | $69.76 |
| Swing structure | each recent peak has been lower than the one before it and each dip deeper — the pattern chart-watchers call a downtrend, which describes where price has already been and not where it goes next | lower highs and lower lows |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 10 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 10 sessions |
| Wave structure | its recent swings can be read as a five-part downward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in leg 3 of five; the labelling fails if price closes above 46.95. It is the only labelling that fits, though not with textbook proportions, and it describes the swings already printed, not what comes next. | possible downward five-wave sequence, in wave 3 (atypical proportions) |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 65 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal | 65 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 45, with sellers in control | 44.8 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 31, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 31.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading near the bottom of its 14-day range ($42.63 to $46.95) — its "stochastic" reading is 16 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been slipping within that range over the last few sessions. | 15.5 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bullish about 5 trading days ago (its momentum flipped positive) | 5 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $86.74 | $86.74 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 50.1% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -50.1% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 1.6% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +1.6% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 50.1% below its highest point of the past year | 50.1% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it just made a new 20-day low, breaking below its recent trading range | 1 session |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it just made a new 55-day low, breaking below its recent trading range | 1 session |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $86.74 (set on 2026-02-05) | $86.74 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($43.30 to $86.50), and it has recovered essentially none of its fall from last year’s high — 0% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $70.00 to $71.38. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 0.0% |
| From the all-time high | it is 50.1% below its all-time high | -50.1% |
| Nearest price level | it is sitting right on a resistance level at $43.45 — a price it turned at three times since 2025-07-02, most recently on 2026-09-23. Since 2024-10-08 it has 4 such levels below the current price and 9 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | +0.3% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $3.95 (set on 2005-07-08) | $3.95 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 996.2% above its all-time low | +996.2% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are wider than usual versus its own recent 6-month history (wider than about 71% of it) | 71st percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $1.87 between its high and its low — about 4.3% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $1.87 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $40.16 and $50.89 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $40.16 – $45.52 – $50.89 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 4.3% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 4.3% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 14.1 daily ranges below its 200-day average price (37.9% below it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 14.1 daily ranges below its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.81× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a bearish engulfing | 6 sessions ago it opened above the previous session's close and finished below that session's open — a "bearish engulfing" pair, where one down day more than undid the up day before it | 6 sessions ago |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-10-08 0.9% below the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and had not traded back through that level by the close | -0.9% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 10.2% below the previous close 22 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 58.09 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | -10.2% |
| Gap filled | a 4.1% gap up opened on 2026-09-17 has been "filled" 14 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it took 1 session to close | 14 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed lower in its latest session, after a session that did not close lower — a single down day rather than a run | 1 session down |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock lagged the market by 24.7 percentage points (the stock lost 23.6% while the market gained 1.0%) | -24.7% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 52.6 percentage points (the stock lost 48.7% while the market gained 3.8%) | -52.6% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 59.2 percentage points (the stock lost 41.7% while the market gained 17.5%) | -59.2% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock lagged the market by 53.1 percentage points (the stock lost 38.1% while the market gained 15.0%) | -53.1% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: MACD momentum is positive, near the bottom of its 14-day range (oversold) — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 6 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: a "death cross" — its 50-day average is below its 200-day, trading below its 200-day average, a fresh 20-day low, a strong downtrend, with sellers in control, lagging the market over 6 months, trading below the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 6 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 27% below the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-09-01 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established downtrend, with the band above acting as the level that would have to be cleared. The band itself is thick, spanning 20.4% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that has held for a while and takes effort to cross. | -27.3% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 34% below the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $65.80 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 190 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -34.2% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 16% below the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-07-29 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $51.45 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 51 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -15.8% |
Price levels it has turned at before
IONS last closed at $43.30 on 2026-10-08. Since 2024-10-08 it has turned at 4 prices below its last close and 9 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $43.45 | Resistance | 0.3% above the last close | turned there three times · 2025-07-02 to 2026-09-23 |
| $45.33 | Resistance | 4.7% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-07-30 to 2025-08-21 |
| $40.20 | Support | 7.2% below the last close | turned there four times · 2024-10-29 to 2025-08-07 |
| $37.25 | Support | 14.0% below the last close | turned there three times · 2024-11-06 to 2025-06-10 |
| $34.88 | Support | 19.4% below the last close | turned there six times · 2025-01-27 to 2025-06-16 |
| $64.45 | Resistance | 48.9% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-09-10 to 2026-08-25 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
Its recent swings can be read as a five-part downward sequence — what Elliott-wave chartists call an impulse — now in leg 3 of five.
This labelling fails — stops being a possible reading at all — if it closes above $46.95.
It is the only labelling that fits these swings, though its proportions are not the textbook ones.
On past moves of this shape the leg has usually ended somewhere between $12.70 and $25.78 — that is where it has tended to end if the count holds, not a forecast of where the price goes.
This reading has stood for 3 trading days, since 2026-10-06.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-10-08.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading below the 200-day moving average · Near the 52-week low · Pulled back from the 12-month high · Broke down to a new 20-day low · MACD just crossed bullish (12/26/9) · lagging the market | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-10-08. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingBuy (1.79 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 22 analysts
- Mean price target$83.64 range $54.00 – $105.00; median $85.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-10-09. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for IONS
- Consensus EPS estimate-$0.9163 next reporting period, as of 2026-10-09
- Estimate change, 30 days$0.00 from -$0.9163, on 2026-09-04, 35-day window
- Readings revised upward0% of 6 comparable readings
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Inherent risks in the drug discovery, development, and regulatory approval process.","Dependence on the successful independent commercialization of new medicines.","Potential failure of pipeline medicines in clinical trials to meet safety or efficacy endpoints."]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of IONS's 10-Q filed 2026-04-29 against the prior one filed 2025-10-29.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Added reference to 'our expectations regarding development and regulatory milestones' in forward-looking statements section (2026-04-29)
- Added statement about 'two independent commercial launches now underway' in Overview section (2026-04-29)
- Added reference to seven marketed medicines (2026-04-29)
- Added statement about positioning to independently launch 'olezarsen for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia, or sHTG, and zilganersen for Alexander disease, or AxD, in 2026' (2026-04-29)
- Added statement about advancement of 'obudanersen for Angelman syndrome, or AS, which we advanced into a Phase 3 study in the second quarter of 2025' (2026-04-29)
- Added specific revenue figures for WAINUA: 'more than $640 million in revenues from our WAINUA collaboration, including approximately $80 million in royalties on sales of WAINUA' through March 31, 2026 (2026-04-29)
- Added specific revenue figures for SPINRAZA: 'more than $2.5 billion in revenues from our SPINRAZA collaboration, including more than $2.1 billion in royalties on sales of SPINRAZA' through March 31, 2026 (2026-04-29)
- Added reference to 'Biogen is also evaluating QALSODY as a potential treatment for presymptomatic SOD1-ALS patients in the ongoing ATLAS study' (2026-04-29)
- Removed:
- Removed reference to Form 10-K for year ended December 31, 2024 (2025-10-29)
- Removed specific mention of 'and our expectations regarding development and regulatory milestones' phrase structure from older filing (2025-10-29)
- Reworded:
- Forward-looking statements: changed 'Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024' to 'Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025' (2026-04-29)
- Overview: changed 'TRYNGOLZA and DAWNZERA are now commercial' language to explicitly stating 'two independent commercial launches now underway' (2026-04-29)
- Overview: changed from reference to medicines 'in development' to specific pipeline description with 'three wholly owned medicines and six partnered medicines in Phase 3 development' (2026-04-29)
- Notes:
- Text comparison limited to provided excerpts; full section content may extend beyond these extracts
- Older filing excerpt appears truncated at end of forward-looking statements section, potentially affecting completeness of removal detection
Risk Factors
- Added:
- Added reference to 'Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025' (newer filing dated 2026-04-29 vs. 'Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024' in older filing dated 2025-10-29)
- Added 'and infrastructure' to the summary risk factor about 'Our dependence upon our own and third-party data, information technology systems and infrastructure' (newer filing)
- Added 'in the near future' to the description of expected independent launches (newer filing)
- Added 'which will need to work effectively in coordination with new commercial functional areas' as a consolidated phrase in the commercialization infrastructure paragraph (newer filing)
- Removed:
- Removed 'Further,' conjunction and split 'Further, these existing support functions will need to work effectively' into separate sentence structure (older filing had 'Further, these existing support functions' as one clause)
- Removed explicit asterisk marking on the risk factor 'If government or other third-party payers fail to provide adequate coverage and payment rates for our medicines, including our commercial medicines and our medicines in development, our revenue will be limited.' (asterisk present in older filing, absent in newer filing text shown)
- Reworded:
- Changed 'unable to effectively establish or maintain' to 'unable to establish or maintain' (removed 'effectively') in the first commercialization risk factor heading (newer filing, filed 2026-04-29)
- Changed 'The proximity of our planned upcoming independent launches' to 'The proximity of our current and planned independent launches' (newer filing)
- Changed 'does not accept' to 'does not adopt' in risk factor heading (newer filing)
- Changed 'accepting our medicines' to 'considering our medicines' in the market acceptance paragraph (newer filing)
- Changed 'may not accept or use any of the medicines' to 'may not adopt any of the medicines' (newer filing)
- Changed 'The degree of market acceptance' to 'The degree of market adoption' (newer filing)
- Changed 'or if healthcare reform measures increase our costs, decrease our sales, or negatively impact reimbursement for our products' language was present in older filing but removed/truncated in newer filing text shown
- Notes:
- The newer filing text is truncated at 'ot' mid-word, preventing full assessment of the final paragraph comparison
- Exact pagination differs (page 36 in newer vs. page 34 in older), which is expected but not a content change
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
2 open-market purchases and 0 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days, of which we have read Form 4 filings through 2026-10-04. The 5 days since 2026-10-04 have not been checked yet.
- Last 90 days · read to 2026-10-042 buys ($1M) · 0 sells — 1 buying insider
- Last 180 days · read to 2026-10-042 buys ($1M) · 29 sells ($28M) — 1 buying, 14 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net buying (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-07-31. Based on Form 4 filings read through 2026-10-04; anything filed since is not yet included.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about IONS's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
6 institutional 13F filers reported holding IONS as of 2026-06-30 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 6
- Reported shares held 42,242,216
- Reported value $3,349,385,330
reported quarterly holdings change (2026-03-31 → 2026-06-30): 0 new, 6 increased, 0 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Ask about IONS's institutional holders → See what each manager we track holds →
Short interest (FINRA)
IONS had 20,890,252 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
IONS had 12.6% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 5.2 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 20,890,252
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 12.6%
- Prior settlement (shares) 20,924,638
- Reported change -0.16%
- Days to cover (reported) 5.2
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-09-15 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY)
- Biogen (BIIB)
- AstraZeneca (AZN)
- Novartis (NVS)
- PTC Therapeutics (PTCT)
- Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) do?
Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted medicines for serious diseases. The company has evolved into a fully integrated commercial-stage firm with a portfolio of seven marketed medicines and a robust pipeline spanning neurology, cardiometabolic diseases, and other high-need areas. Ionis utilizes proprietary technologies, including Ligand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA), to develop innovative therapeutics.
What sector is Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) in?
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) is classified in the Health Care sector. Its industry is Biotechnology. It trades on NASDAQ.
Who are Ionis Pharmaceuticals's (IONS) competitors?
Notable peers of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) include Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, AstraZeneca, Novartis and PTC Therapeutics. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) overbought or oversold right now?
Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 31, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-10-08). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on IONS come from?
Fundamentals come from SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-02 for the rest; prices are market data, as of 2026-09-02; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-02 for the rest. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-10-08.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.