Ironwood 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.
We found at least one documented issue that threatens the company itself — regardless of how the stock is currently valued.
Why this colour
Our findings argue for caution, not for a bargain: the optically cheap price rests on a single product with a dated generic end (March 2029) that nearly coincides with the maturity of the $385 million facility (end of 2028) — on negative equity and without a balance-sheet buffer. The bet on the future, apraglutide, which is meant to offset all this, has an entire additional trial ahead of it. The ongoing earnings power is real, but it provides no basis for treating the low price as a safety net. Worth watching are LINZESS revenue stability, the refinancing of the credit facility and the STARS-2 progress. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals looks optically cheap — a trailing price-to-earnings ratio around 7, up roughly 480 percent from the low, 14 hits in our in-house stock scanner. But the one bright number dazzles. Substantially all revenue hangs on a single product (LINZESS, for irritable bowel syndrome), and generics for it may enter the market from March 2029. Add a debt wall from the $1 billion VectivBio acquisition (a $385 million revolver due at the end of 2028, only weeks before the cliff), negative equity of $261.8 million — and a bet on the future (apraglutide) that the FDA has pushed back by an entire extra trial. The ongoing earnings power ($127 million of operating cash flow) is real, but it stands on a narrow window of time. Not investment advice.
Earnings power & cash flow
Real and ongoing: net income of $24.0 million (2025), $40.8 million in the first quarter of 2026, operating cash flow of $127.0 million (2025), cash of $220.5 million (Q1 2026). A capital-light toll model on an established drug that throws off decent cash and is used to pay down debt.
Single-product dependence & patent cliff
Per the annual report (10-K), LINZESS accounts for "substantially all" revenue (97.7 percent from the U.S.). For this one product, generics may enter the market as early as March 2029 — a hard, dated end of the only meaningful revenue source, with no load-bearing second leg so far.
Debt & balance sheet
A debt wall from the VectivBio acquisition: a $385.0 million revolver due December 31, 2028 — only weeks before the generic cliff. Equity is negative (minus $261.8 million), the accumulated deficit roughly $1.7 billion, no balance-sheet buffer. On the plus side: interest covered roughly three times, and the $200 million convertible notes were repaid on schedule in June 2026.
Apraglutide (the bet on the future)
The roughly $1.1 billion purchase price was expensed immediately in 2023 (no further impairment risk), but the countervalue is still open: the FDA requires a confirmatory Phase III trial (STARS-2), starting from Q2 2026. A binary pipeline risk — success creates a second leg, failure leaves the billion-dollar bet without a payoff.
Valuation & special situation
Optically cheap (trailing P/E around 7, price-to-cash-flow around 6), but including debt an enterprise value of roughly $1.0 billion (~8× operating cash flow). Revenue is shrinking ($442.7 million to $296.2 million in two years). Activist Sarissa Capital (Dr. Alexander Denner, board member since 2020) holds roughly 5.6 percent — a possible catalyst, but no guarantee.
Worth Noting
Materiality gate (finding by finding): (1) single-product dependence + patent cliff — LINZESS is "substantially all" of revenue, generics as early as March 2029; trigger case = erosion of the only revenue source from 2029. A structural finding with heavy weight (touches nearly all revenue) but roughly three years of lead time. (2) VectivBio debt + negative equity — $385 million revolver due 12/31/2028, net debt ~$365 million, equity minus $261.8 million; trigger case = forced refinancing right ahead of the cliff, covenant risk if EBITDA falls. A structural finding, weighted as existence-adjacent because of the timing collision with the cliff, but currently no going concern (interest covered ~3×, $127 million operating cash flow). (3) Apraglutide — binary pipeline risk; purchase price already expensed (no further balance-sheet damage), but no payoff without approval. A structural finding. No acute existential finding (profitable, cash-generative, no going-concern warning), but several clustered, heavy structural findings that bunch into a narrow 2028–2029 window and stand on negative equity → classification "vorsicht" (caution) as a descriptive editorial finding, not "halten"/"beobachten" (hold/watch — that would play down the cluster of structural risks) and not sell (the ongoing earnings power is too real for that).
Valuation metrics are orders of magnitude as of mid-2026 (trailing P/E ~7, price-to-cash-flow ~6, enterprise value ~$1.0 billion or ~8× operating cash flow, market value ~$0.6 billion). Reported earnings swing hard: net income of $24.0 million (2025), but $40.8 million in Q1 2026 alone. Annual figures refer to fiscal year 2025 (as of 12/31/2025), quarterly figures to Q1 2026 (as of 03/31/2026). Analyses are evergreen; daily prices are not a buy argument.
Revenue, earnings, cash-flow, debt and concentration series come from the annual report (10-K) 2025, the 10-K 2024 and the quarterly report (10-Q) Q1 2026. The VectivBio acquisition (June 2023, roughly $1 billion) was treated as an asset acquisition: roughly $1.1 billion was expensed immediately as in-process R&D in 2023 (operating loss $945.4 million, net loss roughly $1.03 billion) — hence no goodwill/large intangibles on the balance sheet and no future impairment risk. Special-situations screening: activist investor Sarissa Capital (Schedule 13D since 2019, board seat Dr. Alexander Denner since 2020, 5.6%); further 5-percent holders Vanguard (9.8%), Armistice (9.7%), Bank of America (7.3%), BlackRock (6.9%). No rights plan, no formal strategic review, no takeover announced. EDGAR re-checked on July 17, 2026: no new material filings since the research cut-off.
AI dossier: category "neutral" (rated July 10, 2026) — the evaluated SEC filings (10-K 2025 and 10-Q) contain no material AI angle: no AI revenue source, no documented operational AI use, no concrete AI business risk to its own model. Ironwood is a classic GI/rare-disease pharma business built around LINZESS and apraglutide.
Stock Watch
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 1.30 $ to 5.40 $ · Last price: 4.20 $ (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: Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc IRWD | 0.7 | 7.5 | 4.1 | 77.2 | – | -15.7 | 230.5 |
| Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd TAK | 60.9 | – | 23.2 | 64.5 | 16.5 | 4.3 | 28.2 |
| Teva Pharma Industries Ltd TEVA | 45.7 | 65.3 | 17.8 | 52.5 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 106.3 |
| Zoetis Inc ZTS | 30.8 | 12.2 | 9.5 | 71.7 | 36.6 | 2.3 | -49.5 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation UTHR | 21.1 | 18.0 | 11.0 | 86.1 | 41.7 | 10.6 | 23.2 |
| Viatris Inc VTRS | 19.4 | – | 11.9 | 40.3 | 6.8 | -3.0 | 84.4 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences Inc NBIX | 15.3 | 24.1 | 17.4 | 64.5 | 22.8 | 21.5 | 6.4 |
| Elanco Animal Health ELAN | 11.3 | – | 19.3 | 55.4 | 12.3 | 6.2 | 23.4 |
| Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd RDY | 10.1 | 28.9 | 14.2 | 50.2 | 4.3 | 8.6 | -19.9 |
| Median of companies shown | 19.4 | 21.0 | 14.2 | 64.5 | 14.4 | 4.3 | 23.4 |
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 | 274 | -52 | -82 | -0.56 | -25 | 67 | 710 |
| 2017 | 298 | -77 | -117 | -0.78 | -100 | 10 | 606 |
| 2018 | 347 | -239 | -282 | -1.85 | -71 | -196 | 332 |
| 2019 | 428 | 120 | 22 | 0.14 | 11 | -93 | 403 |
| 2020 | 390 | 143 | 106 | 0.66 | 169 | 63 | 559 |
| 2021 | 414 | 232 | 528 | 3.21 | 262 | 606 | 1,127 |
| 2022 | 411 | 250 | 175 | 0.94 | 274 | 652 | 1,101 |
| 2023 | 443 | -945 | -1,002 | -6.45 | 183 | -346 | 471 |
| 2024 | 351 | 93 | 1 | 0.01 | 104 | -301 | 351 |
| 2025 | 296 | 119 | 24 | 0.14 | 127 | -262 | 397 |
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
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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 | 0.01 | – | 91 | -23.00 | 2.50 | 15 | 15 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.23 | – | 41 | -45.10 | -90.90 | 20 | 20 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.15 | – | 85 | -9.70 | 27.70 | -15 | -15 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.23 | 890.90 | 122 | 33.30 | 32.80 | 48 | 48 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.01 | -191.00 | 48 | -47.30 | -4.80 | 75 | 75 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.24 | – | 107 | 158.90 | 38.30 | 5 | 5 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.31 | 106.70 | 113 | 32.60 | 45.40 | 58 | 58 |
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 13 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- Gary Antonacci: Dual Momentum (Stock Adaptation)
- High ADR (≥5%)
- Power Trend
- RS Leader (≥90)
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
Research
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. 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 | 1.21 | 1.20 – 1.22 | 471 | 384.0% | 2 |
| 12/31/2027 | 1.50 | 1.25 – 1.82 | 494 | 24.0% | 3 |
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 -17.0% 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) | $185.6M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $688.0M |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $28.8M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 22.1% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 5.3% per year.
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
Geprüft am 10.07.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) Geschäftsjahr 2025 (eingereicht 26.02.2026) und den Quartalsbericht (10-Q) Q1 2026 (eingereicht 07.05.2026): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von Ironwood Pharmaceuticals findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug. Weder Item 1 (Business) noch Item 1A (Risk Factors) noch die MD&A erwähnen künstliche Intelligenz oder maschinelles Lernen — es gibt keine KI-Produkt- oder -Umsatzquelle (verkauft), keinen dokumentierten operativen KI-Einsatz in Forschung oder Betrieb (nutzt) und kein konkretes KI-Geschäftsrisiko fürs eigene Modell (bedroht). Ironwood ist ein klassisches Biopharma-Geschäft rund um das Magen-Darm-Medikament LINZESS/Linaclotide (US-Vermarktung mit AbbVie) und den Kurzdarm-Wirkstoff Apraglutide (Phase III, STARS-2). Nach dem Kriterienkatalog bleibt es damit bei ‚neutral‘ (dokumentierter Negativ-Befund; die geprüften Filings enthalten keine belastbaren KI-Treffer).
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2025-11-10 · 10-Q 2025-08-11 · 10-K 2025-03-31
Rated on July 10, 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 -10.3%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 4.1%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -1.6%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 27.2%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 100.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 3.7 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 1,391 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 76.8%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 3.2%
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
5/10The 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% 0.9%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 29.2%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 233.2%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 3.2x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 6
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% –
- ROCE > 15% 76.8%
- Expected return > 10% 294.7%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2026 | Silber Jeffrey | SVP, CMO, Head-Res&Drug | Other | 137,036 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Silver Ronald | PFO & PAO | Sell | 127,890 | 4.52 | 578,063 |
The company
About the Company
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ein Biotechnologieunternehmen, konzentriert sich auf die Entwicklung und Vermarktung von Therapien für gastrointestinale (GI) und seltene Erkrankungen in den USA und international.
- Employees
- 100
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA
- Address
- 100 Summer Street, 02110 Boston, United States
- Phone
- 617 621 7722
- Website
- ironwoodpharma.com
- IPO Date
- 02/03/2010
- ISIN
- US46333X1081
- Stock Split
- 1194:1000 on 04/02/2019
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas A. McCourt | CEO & Director | 1957 |
| Tammi Gaskins | Senior Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer. | 1973 |
| Ronald Silver | Senior VP, Interim CFO, Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer | 1982 |
| Rosario Lobrutto M.B.A., M.S., Ph.D. | VP & Global Head of Technical Operations | – |
| Chris Stamm | Vice President of Investor Relations & Communications | – |
| John Minardo | Senior VP, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary | 1976 |
| Jeff Ruberti | Chief Strategy Officer | – |
| Jeffrey Silber M.D. | Chief Medical Officer, Head of Research & Drug Development | – |
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).
- 08/06/2026 IRONWOOD PHARMACEUTICALS INC (IRWD): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits 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.