HC Wainwright Brokers Decrease Earnings Estimates for IONS

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – HC Wainwright lowered their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note issued on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright analyst M. Kapoor now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($1.14) per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of ($1.06). HC Wainwright has a “Buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($3.67) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ Q4 2026 earnings at ($1.02) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($3.41) EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at ($0.76) EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at ($0.70) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($1.27) EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on IONS. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $55.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.92 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.18.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total value of $30,516.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,692.80. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.60 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,400. This trade represents a 26.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Ionis from $72 to $76 and assigned an “overweight” rating, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga report on JPMorgan’s Ionis rating
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright maintained a “Buy” rating and a $115 price target. Although its estimates were reduced for several upcoming quarters and FY2027, the firm modestly improved its FY2026 forecast to a $3.41 loss per share from a $3.45 loss, compared with a consensus loss estimate of $3.67. MarketBeat analyst estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals
• Positive Sentiment: Ionis director Hayden purchased 20,000 shares worth approximately $1.1 million, increasing his direct and indirect holdings by 34%. The transaction may signal management confidence in the company’s valuation and prospects. The Motley Fool report on Ionis insider buying
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis remains unprofitable under current forecasts, with HC Wainwright projecting losses through FY2026 and most of FY2027 before quarterly profitability begins later in 2027. The estimates highlight the importance of pipeline execution and future commercialization revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright lowered EPS forecasts for Q3 2026, Q4 2026, Q1 2027, Q2 2027 and FY2027, indicating expectations for wider near-term losses and slower earnings improvement than previously anticipated. HC Wainwright estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of Ionis investors. While no findings or liability were reported, the announcement introduces additional legal and reputational uncertainty. Pomerantz investor investigation announcement

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.