ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The business is demonstrably there: two approved medicines, one of them without an approved competitor in its indication, a gross margin of 91.7 percent in 2025, six uninterrupted years of revenue growth from $441.8 million to $1,071.5 million, and a balance sheet with no question mark over survival — $1,248.1 million of equity against $357.2 million of liabilities, $851.5 million in cash and investment securities, an equity ratio of 77.8 percent and an Altman Z of 6.96. Two clearly operational questions remain open, and both carry weight. First, the quality of earnings: the profitable years 2024 and 2025 were each carried by a different one-time item — $146.5 million from a voucher sale and a $252.1 million tax benefit — and the first quarter of 2026 ended at minus $4.6 million operationally because selling, general and administrative expenses rose from 51.7 to 63.8 percent of revenue. Second, durability: 63.5 percent of revenue depends on a compound whose composition-of-matter patent expires in 2030 and whose protection against generics is being defended in two live proceedings; the Phase 3 candidate ACP-101 failed in September 2025, and the EU application for DAYBUE drew a negative opinion in February 2026. None of that rises to an existential question: the settlements with Hetero and Zydus run to 2036 and 2038, the company funds itself, and there is no meaningful financial debt. This is not demonstrated quality, but it is not a substance problem either — hence yellow.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is the bottom-line trap in its purest form: the books show $391.0 million of net income for 2025, while pre-tax income was $138.9 million — the difference is a $252.1 million tax benefit from releasing a valuation allowance. A year earlier, an FDA voucher worth $146.5 million had carried operating income. Underneath sits a business that genuinely turned: revenue climbed from $441.8 million in 2020 to $1,071.5 million, operations threw off $109.8 million of cash in 2025, and the balance sheet carries $1,248.1 million of equity and $851.5 million of cash. But the first quarter of 2026 was operationally in the red at minus $4.6 million because selling costs jumped 35.3 percent, Europe rejected the DAYBUE application, and the lead product's patent protection returns to court on November 2, 2026. Not investment advice.
Revenue and margin
Revenue rose without interruption from $441.8 million in 2020 to $1,071.5 million in 2025 and added another 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, reaching $268.1 million. The gross margin was 91.7 percent in 2025 and 90.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026 — the level you expect from a pharmaceutical company with patent-protected products.
Quality of earnings
Both profitable years rest on one-time items: $146.5 million from the sale of an FDA voucher in 2024, and a $252.1 million tax benefit in 2025 from releasing a $340.4 million valuation allowance. Stripped of special items, operating income was $84.3 million in 2024 and $104.8 million in 2025; in the first quarter of 2026 it was minus $4.6 million.
Product concentration
NUPLAZID and DAYBUE account for 100 percent of revenue, NUPLAZID alone for 63.5 percent in 2025. There is no third approved product; the Phase 3 candidate ACP-101 missed its primary endpoint in September 2025 and was discontinued. The most advanced successor, remlifanserin, was in Phase 2 as of the quarterly report filed May 7, 2026.
Patent protection
The composition-of-matter patent on pimavanserin expires in 2030, with polymorph and method-of-use patents running out between 2026 and 2028. Settlements bind Hetero until February 27, 2038 and Zydus until September 23, 2036 or February 27, 2038. Still open are the appeal by MSN and Aurobindo, whose briefing has been complete since December 19, 2025, and a trial against Zydus beginning November 2, 2026.
Balance sheet
As of March 31, 2026 the company held $1,248.1 million of equity against $357.2 million of liabilities, plus $851.5 million in cash and investment securities after $819.7 million at the end of 2025. The equity ratio is 77.8 percent and the Altman Z score 6.96 (own recalculation: 6.95). One caveat: $249.6 million of those assets are deferred tax assets that presuppose future profits.
Valuation
At the July 24, 2026 close of $24.84 the market value stood at roughly $4.25 billion — about 4.0 times 2025 revenue and about 3.4 times book value. The trailing price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 11 is distorted by the tax benefit; on the current-year estimate the multiple is roughly 74. The consensus price target is $32.80.
Worth Noting
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals reached our research list through our in-house stock scanner: a hit on the "Turnaround-Kandidaten" list (U.S. selection) with a turnaround check of 6 of 8 points, as of July 27, 2026. We measured the list separately for both editions: 60 U.S. hits each, 44 of them tied at 6 points. Because the ordering inside that tie is undefined and shifts with every recalculation, we name no exact rank — only the range of ranks 17 to 60 is meaningful. The detail page shows only the 25 strongest hits — ACADIA does not appear there. The lists are recalculated daily.
Our own cross-checks on the scanner metrics: the Altman Z score of 6.96 was recalculated from the 2025 annual accounts and confirmed at 6.95, although it is carried mainly by the market value of equity while the accumulated deficit of $1,813.4 million works against it. The Piotroski score diverges: the data set shows 5 of 9, while recalculating the 2025 10-K against the 2024 10-K gives 6 of 9 — the failing items in both cases are cash flow above net income, an unchanged share count and rising asset turnover. The stored distance from the all-time high of minus 59.02 percent implies an all-time high near $58; our own measurement of the highest closing price since the 2004 IPO gives $57.00 on July 7, 2020, or minus 56.4 percent against the close of July 24, 2026.
Every figure carries its own reporting date: annual figures from the 10-K for 2025 (filed February 26, 2026) and for 2024 (filed February 27, 2025), quarterly figures from the 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2026 (filed May 7, 2026), annual meeting and compensation data from the 8-K dated May 29, 2026 and the S-8 dated June 10, 2026, share count from the quarterly report cover page (April 29, 2026). Valuation ratios as of July 26, 2026 based on the closing price of July 24, 2026 — meant to be evergreen, never a daily price as a buy argument.
Identity and recency: the ticker ACAD belongs to ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. of San Diego (CIK 0001070494), not to the similar-sounding asset manager Acadian Asset Management. The company was incorporated in Vermont in 1993 as Receptor Technologies, Inc.; since reincorporating in Delaware in 1997 there has been no name change, and the SEC filing index lists no former names. Across every filing through June 29, 2026 there is no Form 25 and no Form 15, no tender offer (SC 14D9, SC TO) and no merger document — the company is independent and listed on NASDAQ.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at ACAD since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 20.10 $ to 30.60 $ · Last price: 27.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Biotechnology
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc ACAD | 4.6 | 13.2 | 37.9 | 62.1 | -1.7 | 11.9 | 13.4 |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc VRTX | 130.6 | 31.3 | 24.5 | 55.0 | 38.1 | 9.6 | 33.4 |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN | 82.0 | 19.9 | 13.1 | 44.5 | 20.7 | 1.0 | 35.5 |
| Moderna Inc MRNA | 62.7 | – | 4.6 | -66.0 | -131.1 | -39.2 | 532.3 |
| argenx NV ARGX | 61.9 | 38.1 | 34.2 | 59.1 | 32.0 | 89.6 | 30.9 |
| Revolution Medicines Inc RVMD | 40.9 | – | -9.7 | -174,708.6 | 0.0 | -100.0 | 338.3 |
| BeiGene, Ltd. ONC | 40.0 | 63.1 | 34.1 | 88.9 | 19.1 | 40.2 | 6.4 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc ALNY | 32.6 | 61.8 | 28.4 | 79.7 | 23.0 | 65.2 | -48.1 |
| Royalty Pharma Plc RPRX | 32.5 | 31.8 | 19.6 | 95.8 | 100.3 | 5.1 | 68.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 40.9 | 31.8 | 24.5 | 59.1 | 20.7 | 9.6 | 33.4 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 17 | -273 | -271 | -2.34 | -210 | 518 | 561 |
| 2017 | 125 | -292 | -289 | -2.36 | -218 | 335 | 385 |
| 2018 | 224 | -247 | -245 | -1.94 | -167 | 479 | 540 |
| 2019 | 339 | -247 | -235 | -1.60 | -151 | 699 | 783 |
| 2020 | 442 | -287 | -282 | -1.79 | -136 | 627 | 783 |
| 2021 | 484 | -170 | -168 | -1.05 | -126 | 541 | 700 |
| 2022 | 517 | -224 | -216 | -1.34 | -114 | 400 | 588 |
| 2023 | 726 | -73 | -61 | -0.37 | 17 | 432 | 749 |
| 2024 | 958 | 231 | 226 | 1.36 | 158 | 733 | 1,188 |
| 2025 | 1,072 | 105 | 391 | 2.28 | 110 | 1,227 | 1,564 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.86 | 214.10 | 260 | 12.40 | 55.40 | 40 | 40 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.11 | 14.00 | 244 | 18.70 | 7.80 | 20 | -79 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.16 | -21.30 | 265 | 9.30 | 10.10 | 64 | 163 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.42 | 113.30 | 279 | 11.30 | 25.80 | 74 | 74 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.60 | 84.80 | 284 | 9.40 | 96.30 | -49 | -53 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.02 | -81.40 | 268 | 9.70 | 1.40 | 34 | 29 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.18 | 12.50 | 308 | 16.40 | 10.20 | 101 | 96 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 11 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Backtested Scanners
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
Research
Risk & Weakness
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 0.60 | 0.50 – 0.72 | 1,273 | -27.8% | 14 |
| 12/31/2027 | 0.89 | 0.22 – 1.89 | 1,433 | 48.5% | 14 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 11.5% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $174.4M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $4.61B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $517.4M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 59.2% |
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
ACADIA führt den Einsatz von künstlicher Intelligenz und maschinellem Lernen als eigene Strategiesäule „Data Innovation“ von der Wirkstoffsuche bis zur Vermarktung und bestätigt im Quartalsbericht, dass Beschäftigte generative KI in ihrer täglichen Arbeit verwenden; ein KI-Produkt wird nicht verkauft.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We plan to leverage advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) throughout our business from discovery through commercialization."
Wir beabsichtigen, fortschrittliche Technologien einschließlich künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) und maschinellen Lernens (ML) in unserem gesamten Geschäft einzusetzen — von der Wirkstoffsuche bis zur Vermarktung.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„Our employees and personnel use generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in generative AI technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations."
Unsere Beschäftigten und Mitarbeitenden setzen generative KI-Technologien zur Erledigung ihrer Arbeit ein, und die Offenlegung und Nutzung personenbezogener Daten in generativen KI-Technologien unterliegt verschiedenen Datenschutzgesetzen und weiteren Datenschutzpflichten.
10-Q · 2026-05-07 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-K 2025-02-27 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 8-K 2026-05-29
Rated on July 27, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 27.5%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 11.9%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 2.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 21.7%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 91.7%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 768 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years -272 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 8.1%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 0.3%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
4/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 58.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 15.7%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -37.5%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -7.3x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 2
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 54.6%
- Return on equity > 15% 35.0%
- ROCE > 15% 8.1%
- Expected return > 10% -36.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Schneyer Mark C. | EVP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Sell | 9,292 | 29.34 | 272,604 |
| Aug 6, 2026 | Schneyer Mark C. | EVP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Sell | 5,000 | 29.00 | 145,000 |
| Aug 6, 2026 | Schneyer Mark C. | EVP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Other | 14,292 | 17.84 | 254,969 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Schneyer Mark C. | EVP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Sell | 5,849 | 29.00 | 169,638 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Schneyer Mark C. | EVP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | Other | 5,849 | 17.84 | 104,346 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Thompson Elizabeth H.Z. | EVP, Head of Research & Dev | Sell | 50 | 26.17 | 1,309 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Thompson Elizabeth H.Z. | EVP, Head of Research & Dev | Sell | 16,508 | 26.13 | 431,354 |
| Jul 29, 2026 | Thompson Elizabeth H.Z. | EVP, Head of Research & Dev | Other | 32,272 | – | – |
The company
About the Company
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., ein biopharmazeutisches Unternehmen, konzentriert sich auf Entwicklung und Vermarktung von Medikamenten für neurologische und seltene Erkrankungen in Nordamerika.
- Employees
- 796
- Headquarters
- San Diego, CA
- Address
- 12830 El Camino Real, 92130 San Diego, United States
- Phone
- 858 558 2871
- Website
- acadia.com
- IPO Date
- 05/27/2004
- ISIN
- US0042251084
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Catherine E. Owen Adams | CEO & Director | 1970 |
| Mark C. Schneyer | Executive VP & CFO | 1974 |
| Jennifer J. Rhodes J.D. | Executive VP, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary | 1970 |
| Elizabeth H. Z. Thompson Ph.D. | Executive VP and Head of Research & Development | 1976 |
| Thomas Andrew Garner | Executive VP & Chief Commercial Officer | 1976 |
| Scott Cenci | Senior VP, Chief Information & Data Officer | – |
| Albert S. Kildani | Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications | – |
| Carl Segerstrom | Chief People Officer | – |
| James K. Kihara | Senior Vice President of Finance | 1981 |
| Allyson McMillan-Youngblood | Senior Vice President of Rare Disease Franchise | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.