Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.
We are a biopharmaceutical royalty company focused on deploying capital and licensing technologies to acquire and create diversified royalty streams from high-value medicines. Our primary business is investing in and structuring royalty interests in mid- to late-stage development and commercial biopharmaceutical products, allowing us to generate long-duration, non-dilutive cash flows supported …
$294.72
-$3.78 (-1.27%)
EOD Oct 16, 2026
15.29% operating margin is respectable but not wide. ROIC at 3.48%. Suggests the business covers its cost of capital, but doesn't point to a wide moat.
Revenue up 60.4% YoY with margins expanding 28.8pp. However, free cash flow softened 49%, worth monitoring whether this is timing or structural.
At 31x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration. Free cash flow declined 49% versus the prior year, cash generation momentum has weakened.
30.5x earnings, 44.7x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Price History
Valuation & Multiples
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$291M
▲ +60.4% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$197M
▲ +3186.6% YoY
Op. Margin
32.61%
▲ +28.8pp YoY
ROIC
4.25%
▲ +5.8pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$131M
▼ -48.6% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$132M
▼ -49.1% YoY
Net Debt
-$226M
Net Cash Position
Cash & Equiv.
$1.36B
5Y CAGR: +10.4%
5Y CAGR: -0.5%
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SourceComputed from the 10-Q filed 4 Aug 2026, covering the period ending 30 Jun 2026, as reported to the SEC. Data last refreshed 28 Sept 2026. How this is calculated.
Price from market data, last close as of 16 Oct 2026. Fiscal year ends Dec. Sector medians are approximate S&P 500 benchmarks and update periodically.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) overvalued?
At a P/E of 30.5 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 44.7, Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) trades above a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $217.08 per share, so at $294.72 the stock looks overvalued (26.3% above estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Ligand Pharmaceuticals scores 58/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a mixed business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology, or see how the market compares in our US profitability statistics. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Frequently asked
What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals's fair value?+
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $217.08 per share for LGND, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $162.81. At today's $294.72, that puts the stock about 26.3% above estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals a high-quality business?+
Ligand Pharmaceuticals scores 58 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a mixed business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 32.6% operating margin and a 4.3% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals a good stock to buy right now?+
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. LGND currently trades above its estimated intrinsic value and scores 58/100 on quality (mixed). A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR filings and third-party price providers. Scores, valuations, and metrics are algorithmic estimates. This is not investment advice. See our Terms and Methodology.