IONS Beats Q2 Earnings & Sales Estimates, Reiterates '26 Outlook

Quarterly revenues were $268 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $190.7 million. Yet, the reported figure fell nearly 41% year over year as the comparison was affected by an upfront payment of $280 million received from Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical in the year-ago period.

Excluding the Ono payment, total revenues rose 56% year over year, driven by commercial growth and payments tied to progress across partnered programs.

IONS Stock Performance

Year to date, the company’s shares are down 33% compared with the industry’s nearly 3% decline.

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Ionis’ Diverse Revenue Stream

The company has two wholly-owned marketed drugs — Tryngolza for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG), as well as Dawnzera for hereditary angioedema.

Ionis also earns royalties from partnered medicines. These include the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) therapy Spinraza and the ALS drug Qalsody, marketed by Biogen BIIB, as well as Wainua, developed and commercialized with AstraZeneca AZN for polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis.

The company’s revenues are divided into two segments — commercial revenues and research and development (R&D) revenues.

Commercial revenues, which include net product sales, royalties and other commercial revenues, rose 15% year over year to $119 million.

R&D revenues, which include collaborative agreement revenues and Wainua joint-development revenues, fell 57% to $149 million.

IONS’ Tryngolza Sales Reflect Price Reset

Tryngolza generated net product sales of $5 million in the second quarter compared with $19 million in the year-ago period. The decline reflected a strategic wholesale acquisition cost reduction that took effect on April 1, 2026, ahead of the broader sHTG launch.

Following the drug's approval last month for the broader sHTG indication, management said the launch is off to an encouraging start. Management also noted that underlying FCS demand remained strong, with the highest number of new patient starts since launch, and expects sales to accelerate in the second half of 2026.

Ionis’ Dawnzera Launch Gains Momentum

Dawnzera generated net product sales of $26 million in the reported quarter, up 63% sequentially from $16 million in the first quarter of 2026.

Demand was supported by patients switching from other long-term prophylactic therapies, those previously relying only on on-demand treatment and treatment-naive patients. Management also highlighted a growing base of repeat prescribers, indicating physicians’ positive experience with the drug.

IONS’ Partnered Portfolio Supports Revenues

Royalty revenues increased 9% year over year to $76 million.

Spinraza royalties fell 2% year over year to $53 million, while Wainua royalties rose 60% to $16 million. Other royalty revenues were $7 million.

R&D Revenues Face a Tough Comparison

Collaborative agreement revenues were $133 million, down nearly 61% year over year. The sharp decline was primarily attributed to an upfront payment of $280 million received in the year-ago period from Ono for out-licensing rights to sapablursen, an investigational therapy for a rare blood cancer called polycythemia vera (PV).

Wainua joint-development revenues increased to $16 million, up 33% year over year.

IONS’ Costs Rise on Commercial Investments

Adjusted research, development and patent expenses declined nearly 3% year over year to $192 million, while adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses increased more than 60% to $130 million.

The higher SG&A expenses reflected investments supporting the commercialization of Tryngolza and Dawnzera, as well as launch preparations for zilganersen in Alexander disease.

Ionis Reiterates 2026 Outlook

Ionis reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $875-$900 million. The company continues to expect Tryngolza's net product sales of $100-$110 million and Dawnzera's net product sales of $110-$120 million.

The company also reiterated its adjusted operating loss guidance of $425-$475 million. Operating expenses are expected to increase in the low-teens percentage range from 2025, while R&D expenses are projected to remain broadly consistent with the prior year.

Ionis continues to project year-end cash and investments of more than $1.6 billion while remaining on track for cash-flow breakeven in 2028.

Updates on IONS’ Wholly-Owned Pipeline

Some important wholly-owned candidates in Ionis’ pipeline include zilganersen and obudanersen. A regulatory filing seeking the FDA’s approval of zilganersen for Alexander disease is currently under review, with a final decision expected by Sept. 22, 2026.

Obudanersen is being evaluated in the phase III REVEAL study for treating a rare and serious neurodevelopmental disorder called Angelman syndrome. Data from the study is expected next year.

Updates on IONS’ Partnered Drugs

Earlier this month, AstraZeneca and Ionis announced that the phase III CARDIO-TTRANSform study, which evaluated Wainua for cardiomyopathy caused by hereditary TTR amyloidosis, did not meet its primary endpoint. Both companies plan to analyze the full data set to better understand the results and intend to present the findings at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress next month.

Ionis’ partner, GSK plc GSK, is developing bepirovirsen as a potential treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus. While the drug was invented by Ionis, GSK holds global development and marketing rights. A regulatory filing seeking approval for the GSK-partnered therapy is currently under FDA review. A final decision is expected by Oct. 26, 2026.

Pelacarsen, in partnership with Novartis, is being developed in a phase III study called HORIZON for elevated Lp (a)-driven cardiovascular disease. Data from the study is expected later this year.

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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