Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
LGNDLigand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's three tracks disagree. Price, valuation and the earnings engine each tell a different story — the next quarter or two settles it.
Biggest watch item: the price is already 61 weeks into its uptrend — timing risk, not thesis risk.
The price is in a confirmed uptrend (61 weeks in) while the P/E sits at the 35th percentile of its own 4-year range. Underneath, the last four quarters read mixed, and 72% of the last 3 years' profit arrived as cash. What settles it: the next one or two quarters of delivery.
Price story Before the numbers, the tape. A stock price moves through four repeating seasons: a flat base (stage 1), an advance (2), a top (3), a decline (4). Where the price sits in that cycle frames everything below.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated trades at $301, in a confirmed uptrend and 61 weeks into that stage. That is +35.9% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 89% of a 52-week range of $151 to $320. On relative strength it has been ahead of the S&P 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 23 straight weeks.
Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 61 of stage 2. At $301 it trades +35.9% versus its 200-day average and sits at 89% of its 52-week range ($151–$320).
Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.1 years the stock moved +139% while the S&P 500 moved +263% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 23 straight weeks — the ribbon below is that same metric, week by week.
What would end the trend, mechanically: two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day line. That is the exit rule — no debates.
Valuation P/E is the price of $1 of annual profit: how many dollars the market pays for each dollar the company earns in a year.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated trades at 40.1× P/E, near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 35% of the time. Its long-run median P/E is 43.8×, measured across 4.3 years of weekly readings. This places the multiple against the stock’s own record, and says nothing about what the business is worth.
Today's P/E of 40.1× is near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 35% of the time, against a long-run median of 43.8× measured over 4.3 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.
The price move, decomposed: over 3y, of the +65.1%/yr price move, ~+62.4%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+2.7 pp from the multiple (expanding). The split is the honest approximate (price return minus earnings growth); it makes the rally itself visible instead of hiding it behind the percentile.
Put together: the multiple is low against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.
Stage: Turning around Every business sits somewhere on a fundamental arc, and this page names the spot before anything else. The last twelve quarters of revenue, profit and EPS growth — plus the return the business earns on its capital — are read as curves: Deteriorating (the curves are falling), Turning around (a trough has just formed and the last few quarters lift off it), Improving (the climb off the trough is sustained), Consistent (steadily positive with healthy returns), Topping out (still high but decelerating from the peak). When the curves genuinely disagree the read is Mixed; too little history is No read. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the smooth yearly pace that turns the starting value into the latest one — the fairest way to compare growth across different time spans. Read the columns together: if the 1-year number towers over the 10-year, recent growth is running hotter than the long-run trend. A dash means that window is not held, or the base year was a loss (where a growth rate is not meaningful).
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated reads as turning around on its fundamental arc. Turning around — profit growth swung from −226.7% at the trough to +1900.0%, a 2-quarter improving streak, ROE lifting at 11.8%. The read is built from 12 quarters across 3 curves, on partial evidence.
Why it matters: growth inflections are where re-ratings start — the curves say a turn is forming, so the question becomes whether the next quarters confirm it.
Return readings here are annual, not quarterly — read as level and direction only; they can confirm the growth curves but never drive the stage on their own.
A partial read: at least one curve is short, or the returns curve is not the computed quarterly series — hold the stage word a little more loosely.
| 1yr | 3yr | 5yr | 10yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | +58.8% | +10.5% | — | — |
| Stock price | +126.6% | +65.1% | +22.3% | +9.3% |
4-Factor Sector Score
No sector-relative score — Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is not among the largest members shown in this industry comparison for Biotechnology.
The score is a rank WITHIN a peer set: every metric is scored by percentile against the other members. Without the peer set there is no score to state, so none is invented here.
Revenue Revenue is the top line: everything the company billed its customers in the period.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated reported $0.1 B of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +0.0% year on year. Over 4 years it has compounded at 3.0% a year. The last full year, FY25, came in at $0.3 B. The last four reported quarters add to $0.3 B.
FY25 revenue came in at $0.3 B (+58.8% on the year), capping 4 years at 3.0% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed $0.1 B, +0.0% year on year.
Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +53.8% growth against the decade's 3.0% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.
Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +55.6% over the last 4 quarters against +52.8%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising.
Operating margin Operating margin is what is left of every $100 of sales after running the business, before interest and tax. It is the cleanest read on pricing power and cost control.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's operating margin is 40.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +120.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 5 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −11.8% to 41.7%. The current quarter sits inside that band.
The latest quarter's operating margin is 40.0%, +120.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 5 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −11.8%–41.7%.
Why the margin moved: operating margin went +120.0 pp year on year while gross margin went +20.0 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.
Net profit Net profit is what survives every cost, interest and tax — the number EPS, dividends and book value all grow from.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated posted a net loss of $0.03 B in the Mar 26 quarter. Full-year FY25 profit was $0.1 B. The 4-year compound rate is 10.7%. That loss is 60.0% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier lost $0.1 B. 5 of the last 12 reported quarters were loss-making.
Mar 26 profit was $−0.0 B, null year on year. On the full year, FY25 printed $0.1 B (null), and the 4-year compound rate is 10.7%.
Cash flow — the router The P&L says what was earned; the cash-flow statement says what actually arrived. Operating cash flow (CFO) against profit is the cleanest lie detector in the accounts.
Over the last 3 fiscal years 72% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's reported profit arrived as operating cash — most of the profit is real cash. In FY25 that was $0.1 B of operating cash against $0.1 B of profit. After $0.0 B of capital spending, $0.1 B was left as free cash.
FY25: operating cash of $0.1 B against reported profit of $0.1 B, leaving free cash of $0.1 B after $0.0 B of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 72% of profit.
Cash-flow readings here are annual — that is the resolution our series carries, so this section moves once a year.
Why: conversion is measured cleanly, but the working-capital day-counts behind it sit below what we hold — the move is shown without inventing its driver.
Router verdict: the visible cash user is investment — the next section checks what the spending is buying.
Where the cash goes Working capital is the cash tied up between paying suppliers and getting paid: debtor days (customers owe), inventory days (stock waits), and the cash conversion cycle (the whole loop, in days of sales).
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated does not report the debtor, inventory and payable day-counts a cash cycle is built from, so this section reads the investment side instead. Capital spending ran $0.0 B over the last 3 years. Averaged over those years that is 0.0% of FY25 revenue a year.
Working-capital day-counts are not in our numbers for this stock, so this section reads the investment side — where the cash is being put to work.
On the investment side: capital spending of $0.0 B over the last 3 fiscal years.
The synthesis: the cash is going into capacity, not disappearing into the cycle — the question becomes whether the new capacity earns.
Return on equity Return on equity (ROE) is the profit the business earns on its shareholders’ money. With the full capital-employed split not in our numbers, ROE is the cleanest long ladder we can draw here.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated earns a ROE of 12% in FY25. That is up from a trough of −2% in FY22. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +3.0 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 44.4% net margin on 0.17× asset turns.
FY25 ROE is 12%, recovered from a FY22 trough of −2% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.
Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY25): 44.4% net margin × 0.17× asset turns × 1.53× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 11.5% on equity. Margin is doing the heavy lifting; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.
The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 12.0% − 9.0% = a +3.0 pp spread. The 9.0% is an estimate of this company's own cost of capital — read the sign and the size of the spread, not the decimals. Positive but thin — value creation with little room for error.
Dividend
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated pays no dividend. Across the last 12 reported quarters it has declared no dividend per share, so there is no payout history to chart and no yield to quote. Companies at this stage typically reinvest earnings rather than distribute them, which makes the cash-flow and reinvestment sections the place that cash shows up.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated does not currently pay a dividend. Across the last 12 reported quarters the company has declared no dividend per share, so there is no payout history to chart and no yield to quote. Companies at this stage typically reinvest earnings instead of distributing them.
Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings. Low is the safe corner; the trend matters as much as the level.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated carries total debt of $0.5 B against shareholder equity of $1.0 B as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.45. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.39 in FY21 to 0.44 in FY25. Read the returns elsewhere on this page with that leverage in mind.
Mar 26: total debt of $0.5 B against shareholder equity of $1.0 B — a debt-to-equity of 0.45. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.39 (FY21) to 0.44 (FY25). Read the returns on this page with that leverage in mind.
Ownership There is no quarter-by-quarter holder register to read here, so we read the crowd through short interest — the slice of tradable shares currently sold short, positioned for a fall.
9.9% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's tradable float is currently sold short — some money is positioned against it. At typical trading volumes those positions would take about 3.3 days to buy back. There is no quarter-by-quarter holder register to read for this filer, so the crowd is read through short interest instead.
The latest reading: 9.9% of the float is sold short, and at typical trading volumes it would take about 3.3 days to buy those positions back. Some money is positioned against it. This is a single point-in-time reading — we do not yet hold its history, so we show no trend chart.
Why it sits there: who is doing the shorting, and why, does not travel with the number — the level is shown without inventing its story.
Safety line The Z-score estimates how far a company sits from balance-sheet distress — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the danger zone. It was built for manufacturers, so it is not applied to banks and lenders.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated: the Z-score reads 5.13. A Z-score above roughly 3 reads as safe and below roughly 1.8 as the distress zone, so this sits well clear of distress. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure.
Why it matters: a Z-score of 5.13 sits well clear of the distress zone — the balance sheet is not the risk here.
The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score reads 5.13.
No sector comparison is shown here — not among the largest members shown in this industry comparison.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's stock price today?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated trades at $301, +126.6% over the past year. The company is valued at $6.0 B. The stock sits at 89% of its 52-week range of $151–$320, +35.9% versus its 200-day average. On the tape, the price is in a confirmed uptrend, 61 weeks in. — as of 5 August 2026.
What were Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's latest quarterly results?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated reported revenue of $0.1 B and a net loss of $0.0 B for the Mar 26 quarter. Earnings per share were $−0.67. The operating margin was 40.0%, 120.0 pp higher than a year earlier. — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's revenue?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated reported revenue of $0.1 B in the Mar 26 quarter, +0.0% year on year. For the full FY25 fiscal year, revenue was $0.3 B (+58.8%). Over the last 4 years revenue compounded at 3.0% a year. — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's profit?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated earned $−0.0 B of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter. Full-year FY25 profit was $0.1 B. The operating margin ran 40.0% in the latest quarter. — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's market cap?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's market capitalisation is $6.0 B at a stock price of $301. Market cap is the share price multiplied by shares outstanding, so it is restated whenever the price moves. — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's P/E ratio?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated trades at a P/E of 40.1×, at the 35th percentile of its own 4-year range, against a long-run median of 43.8×. This is a comparison with the stock's own history, not a value call — as of 5 August 2026.
Does Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated pay a dividend?
No — Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has declared no dividend per share in any of its last 12 reported quarters, so there is no payout history and no yield to quote. That is a reading of the filed statements, not an estimate. — as of 5 August 2026.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated overvalued?
On its own history, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated looks cheap against its own history: its P/E of 40.1× has been cheaper only 35% of the time in 4 years (long-run median 43.8×). That is a percentile read against the stock's own past, not a price opinion or a direction call. — as of 5 August 2026.
How is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated performing?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is in a confirmed uptrend, 61 weeks in. Against the S&P 500 it has been ahead on a trailing-13-week view for 23 weeks. This describes what the data did, not a rating. — as of 5 August 2026.
What stage is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in?
Turning around — profit growth swung from −226.7% at the trough to +1900.0%, a 2-quarter improving streak, ROE lifting at 11.8%. The read comes from the last 12 quarters of growth (revenue growth +55.6% latest, profit growth +1,900.0% latest) plus the ROE curve, classified by deterministic rules — a trajectory read, not a buy or sell call — as of 5 August 2026.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in an uptrend?
Yes — the price is in a confirmed uptrend (week 61 of stage 2), trading +35.9% versus its 200-day average and at 89% of its 52-week range. Price stages cycle base → advance → top → decline, and the stage names where this stock sits in that cycle — as of 5 August 2026.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated beating the market?
On recent form, yes — Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has been ahead of the S&P 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 23 straight weeks, the same metric the week-by-week ribbon on this page draws. Separately, on the cumulative view: over the last 10.1 years the stock moved +139% against the S&P 500's +263% — behind the index over the full window. — as of 5 August 2026.
Will Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's stock price go up?
This page publishes no price forecast for Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. What it measures instead: the stock price is $301, the price is in a confirmed uptrend 61 weeks in. Its P/E of 40.1× sits at the 35th percentile of its own 4-year range. — as of 5 August 2026.
Is the market betting against Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated?
Somewhat — short interest is 9.9% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's tradable float, about 3.3 days to cover at typical volumes. A moderate reading: some money is positioned against it. With no quarter-by-quarter holder register here, short interest is the cleanest crowd read we hold — as of 5 August 2026.
Does Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated have too much debt?
It is moderate — Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's debt-to-equity is 0.45. A year-by-year borrowings ladder is not in our numbers for this stock, so the latest reading is the cleanest hold. Read the returns on this page with that leverage in mind — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's capex?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated spent $0.0 B on capital expenditure over the last 3 fiscal years, a figure derived from the change in fixed assets plus depreciation. In FY25 alone that was $0.0 B. — as of 5 August 2026.
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's cash flow?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated generated $0.1 B of operating cash flow in FY25 and $0.1 B of free cash flow after $0.0 B of capital spending. Reported profit that year was $0.1 B, so operating cash ran behind profit. — as of 5 August 2026.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's profit real cash?
Mostly — over the last 3 fiscal years, 72% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's reported profit arrived as operating cash. In FY25, operating cash was $0.1 B against reported profit of $0.1 B. The cash then goes mostly into building capacity. Cash-flow resolution is annual — as of 5 August 2026.
How financially safe is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated?
On the balance sheet, the Z-score reads 5.13 — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the distress zone. That sits well clear of trouble. — as of 5 August 2026.
Where is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in its business cycle?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's FY25 operating margin was 14.8%, against a 5-year band of −11.8%–41.7%: mid-band by its own history — neither the peak that precedes mean-reversion nor the trough that precedes recovery. The latest quarter ran 40.0%. Profitability versus a company's own long band is the cleanest cycle clock this page holds — as of 5 August 2026.
What could break the Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated story?
Biggest watch item: the price is already 61 weeks into its uptrend — timing risk, not thesis risk. Mechanically, two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day average would end the price trend — that is the exit rule this page tracks — as of 5 August 2026.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated a stock worth studying right now?
This is not investment advice. The machine read: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's three tracks disagree. Price, valuation and the earnings engine each tell a different story — the next quarter or two settles it. The sharpest open question: the next one or two quarters of delivery. Every number on this page is drawn deterministically from the raw series, with no forecasts and no price opinions — as of 5 August 2026.