Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock steady as BMO maintains Market Perform rating

Investing.com - BMO Capital reiterated its Market Perform rating and $40.00 price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS), currently trading at $43.19, following FDA approval of Dawnzera for HAE prophylaxis. According to InvestingPro data, the stock has shown strong momentum with a 32.46% gain over the past six months.

The FDA approval enables Ionis to launch its second independent product, with BMO modeling approximately $520 million in peak risk-unadjusted US sales for Dawnzera, below the consensus estimate of approximately $700 million. While the company’s revenue grew 16.05% over the last twelve months, InvestingPro analysis indicates persistent profitability challenges with weak gross profit margins of 5.3%.

BMO notes that Dawnzera will enter a crowded hereditary angioedema (HAE) market, facing competition from upcoming monoclonal antibody and gene editing therapies that offer long-term durability.

The inclusion of platelet count decrease in Dawnzera’s label could potentially impact the drug’s uptake, according to BMO’s analysis.

Investor attention now shifts to the upcoming Olezarsen readout in September, with BMO’s statistical analysis indicating approximately 30-35% probability for statistically significant improvement on pancreatitis.

In other recent news, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has reported its second-quarter 2025 earnings, surpassing revenue expectations with a notable performance. The company achieved a revenue of $452 million, significantly exceeding the forecasted $286 million, resulting in a 58.04% revenue surprise. Earnings per share also impressed at $0.70, a considerable improvement over the anticipated loss of $0.24 per share. Following these results, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from Equalweight to Overweight, with a new price target of $62.00, citing the strong launch of Tryngolza as a contributing factor. Additionally, H.C. Wainwright raised its price target for the company from $50.00 to $65.00, while maintaining a Buy rating, highlighting the successful launch of the treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS). Jefferies also reiterated its Buy rating, maintaining a price target of $83.00. The firm pointed to discussions with AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) regarding the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial, expected to report results in the second half of 2026, as a positive development. These recent developments reflect a positive sentiment among analysts towards Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

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