LENZ Therapeutics 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
Yellow, because one single but decisive operating question is open: whether the sales machine finds enough paying cash-pay customers before the money runs out. The gap is documented — about $64 of net revenue per pack against roughly $1,458 of selling and administrative cost in the second quarter of 2026, plus no further product candidates and a product margin that from the third quarter of 2026 will carry real manufacturing cost for the first time. Red would still be wrong: the June 30, 2026 balance sheet shows $220.0 million of liquidity, no interest-bearing debt, $219.262 million of equity and roughly six quarters of runway, and the filing contains no going-concern warning. Green is ruled out by the unproven commercialization. That the stock closed below its cash per share on August 20, 2026 is a price argument and changes nothing here — it belongs to the valuation question, not to the quality rating. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
LENZ Therapeutics achieved what most biotech companies never do: it took a drug through approval. VIZZ has been on the U.S. market since August 2025, has no rival in its drug class and is protected. The gap sits behind it: roughly 27,000 packs sold and $1.736 million of product revenue in the second quarter of 2026 against $39.378 million of selling, general and administrative expense, no further product candidates, zero research spending in the first half of 2026 and exhausted zero-cost inventory. The balance sheet is debt-free and carries about six quarters at the $72.295 million half-year burn — yet the market values the operating business at roughly minus $56 million. Not investment advice.
Product and protection
VIZZ received FDA approval on July 31, 2025 and is the first and so far only aceclidine-based eye drop for presbyopia. As a new chemical entity the active ingredient carries regulatory exclusivity until July 2030, and the Form 10-Q for June 30, 2026 puts U.S. patent protection at 2044 at a minimum. More than 13,000 distinct eye care professionals had prescribed it through the second quarter of 2026, roughly three quarters of them more than once.
Commercial economics
In the second quarter of 2026, roughly 27,000 packs and $1.736 million of product revenue stood against $39.378 million of selling, general and administrative expense — about $64 of revenue per pack against roughly $1,458 of cost. This is not an outlier: the same block was $39.633 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $44.960 million in the first quarter of 2026.
Single-product dependence
The Form 10-Q for June 30, 2026 states that no further product candidates are in development and that success depends entirely on VIZZ. Research and development expense was zero in the first half of 2026 (prior-year half: $14.879 million), and the 2025 annual report lists 152 employees, none of whom worked in research and development.
Quality of earnings
Two thirds of second-quarter 2026 revenue ($3.750 million of $5.486 million) was licensing upfronts and milestones; the company states it has recognized no royalty revenue from any agreement through June 30, 2026. The roughly 83 percent product margin reported so far also stemmed from inventory carried at zero cost, substantially sold as of June 30, 2026; the company itself flags rising cost of sales per unit.
Balance sheet and funding
The balance sheet is debt-free: $220.0 million of liquidity against $17.3 million of total liabilities and $219.262 million of equity as of June 30, 2026. Against that stands $72.295 million of operating cash outflow in the first half of 2026 — roughly six quarters of runway on a straight-line basis. The $150 million at-the-market facility was exhausted as of December 31, 2025, and 5,522,010 potentially dilutive instruments equal roughly 17.6 percent of shares outstanding.
Worth Noting
The stock reached our research list through a confluence of three in-house scanner signals (as of August 21, 2026): proximity to the 52-week low, a price below both the 50- and 200-day averages, and institutional ownership above 80 percent. What tipped the decision, though, was the balance sheet — market value sits below the cash reported in the latest quarterly report.
As-of dates and scope: all balance sheet and income figures come from the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed August 11, 2026), the most recent filing; no further filing was made through August 21, 2026. Price and market data carry an as-of date of August 21, 2026, and the price anchor is the August 20, 2026 close. Packs sold are shipments to wholesalers and the e-pharmacy, not necessarily patient consumption.
Possible confusion: the listed shell belonged to Graphite Bio, Inc. (ticker GRPH) until March 2024, so historical price and metric series before March 22, 2024 partly reflect that predecessor, including the 1-for-7 share consolidation and the $1.03 per share special dividend paid to Graphite holders.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at LENZ since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 4.10 $ to 49.10 $ · Last price: 4.10 $ (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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LENZ Therapeutics Inc LENZ | 0.1 | – | -8.0 | 91.7 | -622.9 | – | -90.2 |
| 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 | 34.9 | 19.6 | 59.1 | 20.7 | 7.3 | 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | – | 0 | 0 | -0.01 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
| 2020 | – | -14 | -68 | -8.24 | -9 | -10 | 23 |
| 2021 | 0 | -60 | -71 | -8.54 | -53 | -14 | 18 |
| 2022 | 15 | -10 | -11 | -1.38 | -88 | -24 | 47 |
| 2023 | 0 | -72 | -70 | -8.59 | -60 | -93 | 70 |
| 2024 | 0 | -59 | -50 | -2.34 | -59 | 204 | 215 |
| 2025 | 19 | -91 | -82 | -2.85 | -69 | 284 | 306 |
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.
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· 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: Q3 | -0.38 | -58.30 | 0 | – | – | -11 | -11 |
| 2024: Q4 | -0.46 | -15.00 | 0 | – | -19,169.70 | -9 | -9 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.53 | 85.00 | 0 | – | – | -16 | -16 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.53 | -32.50 | 5 | – | -298.20 | -12 | -12 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.59 | -55.30 | 13 | – | -133.60 | -9 | -9 |
| 2025: Q4 | -1.16 | -152.20 | 2 | 2,306.10 | -2,260.50 | -33 | -33 |
| 2026: Q1 | -1.32 | -149.10 | 2 | – | -2,182.40 | -34 | -34 |
| 2026: Q2 | -1.02 | -92.50 | 6 | 9.70 | -581.80 | -39 | -39 |
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
Research
Risk & Weakness
- Below the 50- & 200-SMA
- Downward Momentum
- Near 52-Week Low
- RS Weakness (≤10)
- Stage 4 (Downtrend)
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4B-
- Weakness Cluster
Value & GARP
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 | -4.25 | -4.55 – -3.83 | 17 | -48.9% | 6 |
| 12/31/2027 | -3.08 | -4.35 – -2.35 | 43 | 27.6% | 6 |
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?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
In den sechs ausgewerteten SEC-Berichten (vier Quartalsberichte 10-Q, zwei Geschäftsberichte 10-K) beschreibt LENZ Therapeutics weder KI-Produkte oder KI-Dienste als Umsatzquelle noch einen eigenen operativen KI-Einsatz noch KI als konkretes Risiko für das eigene Geschäftsmodell — die einzige Erwähnung künstlicher Intelligenz in allen sechs Filings betrifft das generative KI-Werkzeug „Elsa“ der US-Arzneimittelbehörde FDA und damit einen Dritten, nicht das Unternehmen selbst; damit greift die Kategorie „Neutral“ mit dokumentiertem Negativ-Befund.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-08-11 · 10-Q 2026-05-11 · 10-K 2026-03-24 · 10-Q 2025-11-05 · 10-Q 2025-07-30 · 10-K 2025-03-19
Rated on August 21, 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 8.4%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -87.6%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 54.3%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") no data
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion no data
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 292 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 13 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago -32.0%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 2.7%
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
3/10The 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% –
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 50.1%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 50.1%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT –
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 0
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% –
- Return on equity > 15% -28.9%
- ROCE > 15% -32.0%
- Expected return > 10% -27.2%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a commercial pharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies to improve vision in the United States. Its product candidates include VIZZ and LNZ101 for the treatment of presbyopia in adults. LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. was formerly known as Presbyopia Therapies, Inc. and changed its name to LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. in June 2021. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Solana Beach, California.
- Employees
- 152
- Headquarters
- Solana Beach, CA
- Address
- 201 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, 92075 Solana Beach, United States
- Phone
- 858 925 7000
- Website
- lenz-tx.com
- IPO Date
- 06/25/2021
- ISIN
- US52635N1037
- Stock Split
- 1:7 on 03/22/2024
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Evert B. Schimmelpennink | President, CEO, Secretary & Director | 1972 |
| James W. McCollum | Co-Founder & Director | 1955 |
| Shawn Olsson | Chief Commercial Officer | 1983 |
| Marc G. Odrich M.D. | Chief Medical Officer | 1959 |
| Daniel R. Chevallard CPA | Chief Financial Officer | 1980 |
| Domenick Porfidia | Vice President of Sales | – |
| David Choromanski | Vice President of Marketing | – |
| Melissa Rosness | Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Operations | – |
| Kris Gambelin | Senior Vice President of Regulatory & Clincal Operations | – |
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).
- 08/11/2026 LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (LENZ): 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.