Ionis Beats Q3 Earnings & Sales Estimates, Raises 2025 Outlook

Ionis Pharmaceuticals IONS reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted loss per share of 61 cents, much narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.15. In the year-ago period, the company reported an adjusted loss of 72 cents.

The adjusted earnings exclude compensation expenses related to equity awards. Including this special item, loss stood at 80 cents per share compared to a loss of 95 cents in the year-ago period.

Total revenues were $157 million, which also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of about $130 million. The reported figure rose 17% over the year-ago period.

IONS Stock Performance

Year to date, shares of Ionis have soared 106% compared with the industry’s 8% growth.

Ionis’ Diverse Revenue Stream

Ionis licensed Spinraza to Biogen BIIB, which is responsible for commercializing the drug. Spinraza is approved for treating spinal muscular atrophy worldwide. Ionis receives royalties from Biogen on Spinraza’s sales. It also earns royalties from Biogen’s sales of Qalsody, approved for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) mutations. Qalsody was launched in the United States in 2023 and in the EU in May 2024.

Ionis and AstraZeneca’s AZN Wainua (or Wainzua in Europe) was approved by the FDA in 2023 for treating patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy, commonly called hATTR-PN or ATTRv-PN. While both companies co-market Wainua for ATTRv-PN in the country, AZN holds exclusive rights to commercialize the drug in ex-U.S. markets.

The company has two wholly-owned marketed medications — Tryngolza for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and Dawnzera for hereditary angioedema (HAE). While Tryngolza was approved and launched in December 2024, Dawnzera was approved in August. Both drugs are Ionis’ first independent product launches. To market these drugs across ex-U.S. territories, the company has partnered with Sobi (for Tryngolza) and Otsuka (for Dawnzera).

IONS' Commercial Revenues Rise

Commercial revenues, which include sales of wholly owned drugs and royalties on partnered drugs, surged 53% year over year to $116 million during the quarter. This growth was primarily driven by Tryngolza product sales and Wainua royalties. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $101 million.

Notably, this was the third full quarter in which Ionis recognized product sales for Tryngolza. This drug added $32 million to the company’s top line compared with $19 million in the previous quarter, driven by a robust launch momentum.

Spinraza royalties totaled $56 million, down 2% year over year. Per Ionis, Spinraza sales during the quarter stood at $374 million, suggesting a decline of 2% over the year-ago period.

Wainua royalty revenues amounted to $13 million compared with $10 million in the previous quarter. This drug generated sales of $59 million, as recorded by AstraZeneca. The EU launch for the drug is currently underway.

Ionis recorded $7 million as other royalties, up 40% year over year. This metric also includes royalties from Qalsody product sales.

IONS' R&D Revenues Decline

Though R&D revenues fell 29% year over year to $41 million, the figure still beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $25 million.

Collaborative agreement revenues totaled $31 million compared with $45 million in the year-ago quarter. Joint development revenues for Wainua from partner AstraZeneca amounted to $10 million, down 23% year over year.

IONS' Costs Rise

Adjusted operating costs rose 14% year over year to $286 million in the quarter. While SG&A costs increased 71% to support commercialization efforts for Wainua, Tryngolza and Dawnzera, R&D costs declined 1% as several late-stage studies ended.

IONS Raises 2025 Guidance

The latest guidance marks the third upward revision to Ionis’ 2025 financial outlook. The company now expects total revenues to be between $875 million and $900 million, up from the prior guidance of $825-$850 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at nearly $858 million.

Per Ionis, the revised guidance reflects the encouraging uptake for Tryngolza. The company also raised the guidance for the drug’s sales for the full year, now expecting the same to be between $85 million and $95 million (previously: $75-$80 million).

The adjusted operating loss is now expected to be between $275 million and $300 million, down from the previous guidance of $300-$325 million.

Ionis now expects to end the year with over $2.1 billion in cash (previously: about $2.0 billion).

Updates on IONS’ Wholly-Owned Pipeline

Last month, Ionis reported positive results from two phase III studies — CORE and CORE2 — which evaluated Tryngolza for severe hypertriglyceridemia, which involves a much larger patient population. Both studies met their primary endpoint, with Tryngolza-treated participants showing a statistically significant, placebo-adjusted reduction in triglyceride (TG) levels. The studies also showed a significant reduction in acute pancreatitis (AP) events — a key secondary endpoint.

Earlier in May, Ionis reported that the late-stage ESSENCE study, which evaluated Tryngolza in people with moderate hypertriglyceridemia (marked by TG levels ≥150 mg/dL), also met its primary goal. Based on data from the ESSENCE, CORE and CORE2 studies, Ionis plans to submit an FDA filing for Tryngolza’s label expansion before the end of 2025. Like FCS, Ionis also has a first-mover advantage in the sHTG indication.

Some other important wholly-owned candidates in Ionis’ pipeline include zilganersen and ION582. Last month, the company reported that a late-stage study evaluating zilganersen for a rare neurological condition called Alexander’s disease (AxD) met its primary endpoint. Based on these results, a regulatory filing is planned with the FDA next year in Q1.

Ionis recently started the phase III REVEAL study evaluating ION582 for treating a rare and serious neurodevelopmental disorder called Angelman syndrome.

Updates on IONS’ Partnered Drugs

AstraZeneca and Ionis are also developing Wainua for another form of amyloidosis called cardiomyopathy caused by hereditary TTR amyloidosis (ATTR-CM), which has a larger market than ATTRv-PN. Data from the phase III CARDIO-TTRANSform study in ATTR-CM is expected in the second half of 2026.

Among some wholly-owned candidates, Ionis’ partner Novartis NVS is developing pelacarsen in late-stage studies for elevated Lp(a)-driven CVD. Along with GSK, the company is developing bepirovirsen as a potential treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus in two ongoing late-stage studies. Data on both these partnered programs is expected in the first half of 2026.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price

 

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. price | Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Quote

IONS’ Zacks Rank

Ionis currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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