At a glance
Exelixis Inc is worth $16.17B, about 24 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 7.0% to $2.32B in fiscal 2025, with 33.7% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 18.6% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $2.15B buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +65.4% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +25.0% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 33.7% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 35.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 1 month and 14 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Exelixis is a cancer drug company. Its flagship medicine is cabozantinib, a pill that blocks several tyrosine kinases, proteins that can drive tumor growth. In the US it markets cabozantinib as CABOMETYX tablets, approved for advanced kidney cancer (alone or with Bristol-Myers Squibb's OPDIVO), previously treated liver cancer, certain thyroid cancers and neuroendocrine tumors, and as COMETRIQ capsules for medullary thyroid cancer. Cancer doctors prescribe the drugs; Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plans pay.
In fiscal 2025, which ended January 2, 2026, Exelixis had $2.32 billion in revenue. Its own US sales of CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ brought in $2.12 billion, up about 17% on the year. Abroad, Takeda markets the drug in Japan and Ipsen everywhere else. They pay Exelixis royalties, a share of their sales, which totaled $179.2 million. Two smaller partnered drugs also came from its labs: COTELLIC for melanoma, with Genentech, and MINNEBRO for high blood pressure, licensed to Daiichi Sankyo in Japan.
Exelixis was profitable for a ninth straight year in 2025 and plans to use its cash to fund new cancer drugs. Its lead experimental drug, zanzalintinib, was under FDA review for some colorectal cancers as of its February 10, 2026 annual report, with late-stage trials in kidney cancer and other tumors. It relies on outside firms to make and distribute its products.
Price history
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EXEL +65.4% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Oct 2, 2026), revenue was $658.7M, up 10.2% from a year earlier, and net income was $218.1M (+12.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.32B (+7.0% year over year; +18.6% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 33.7% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +18.6% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 37.6% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 37.7% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 36.2% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 27.5% good |
| Cash and investments | $1.40B (no borrowings found in the filings) good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $987.5M | $111.8M | $178.6M |
| FY2021 | $1.43B | $231.1M | $346.6M |
| FY2022 | $1.61B | $182.3M | $334.9M |
| FY2023 | $1.83B | $207.8M | $292.9M |
| FY2024 | $2.17B | $521.3M | $671.5M |
| FY2025 | $2.32B | $782.6M | $875.8M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $16.17B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 23.8 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Exelixis’s market value went from $4.27B at the end of 2016 to $16.17B on Oct 28, 2026, about 3.8 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 38%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $16.17B | +37.6% |
| 2025 | $11.75B | +23.6% |
| 2024 | $9.51B | +27.5% |
| 2023 | $7.46B | +44.2% |
| 2022 | $5.17B | -10.5% |
| 2021 | $5.78B | -7.1% |
| 2020 | $6.23B | +16.3% |
| 2019 | $5.35B | -9.0% |
| 2018 | $5.88B | -34.6% |
| 2017 | $8.99B | +110.6% |
| 2016 | $4.27B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXEL price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +51.2% | +65.4% | +48.6% | +25.0% | +19.8% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +51.2% |
| 2025 | +31.6% |
| 2024 | +38.8% |
| 2023 | +49.6% |
| 2022 | -12.3% |
| 2021 | -8.9% |
| 2020 | +13.9% |
| 2019 | -10.4% |
| 2018 | -35.3% |
| 2017 | +103.9% |
| 2016 | +164.4% |
| 2015 | +291.7% |
| 2014 | -76.5% |
| 2013 | +34.1% |
| 2012 | -3.5% |
| 2011 | -42.3% |
| 2010 | +11.4% |
| 2009 | +46.8% |
| 2008 | -41.8% |
| 2007 | -4.1% |
| 2006 | -4.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 63.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 79.9%, back to its old high 27.2 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 29.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 33.7%, back to its old high 1.1 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 20.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 35.4%, back to its old high 14.1 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 10 sales ($11.1M), 4 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2026 | George Poste Director | sell | $2.7M |
| May 26, 2026 | Dana Aftab EVP, Research and Development | sell | $2.2M |
| May 18, 2026 | Christopher J. Senner EVP and CFO | sell | $1.7M |
| May 20, 2026 | Patrick J. Haley EVP, Commercial | sell | $1.6M |
| May 7, 2026 | Maria C Freire Director | sell | $949K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 10.2% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.09% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| AQR Capital Management, LLC | 4.39% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in EXEL
| IDNA iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF | 5.26% |
| CANC Tema Oncology ETF | 4.38% |
| PTH Invesco Dorsey Wright Healthcare Momentum ETF | 4.06% |
| FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund | 3.71% |
| BRNY Burney U.S. Factor Rotation ETF | 3.44% |
| PBE Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF | 2.99% |
| FCUS Pinnacle Focused Opportunities ETF | 2.64% |
| XOVR ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF | 2.39% |
What could go wrong
- Most revenue comes from one drug family. US sales of CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ were $2.12 billion of $2.32 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. If CABOMETYX sales stall or fall, Exelixis says it may need to cut spending or change plans.
- Generic copies could cut CABOMETYX revenue. Cheaper generic versions would compete directly with CABOMETYX once they reach the market. Exelixis flags uncertainty over that timing and US laws and rules designed to make generic drugs easier to approve and adopt.
- Intense competition in cancer treatment. The cancers CABOMETYX treats, such as kidney and liver cancer, are crowded fields. Rivals, some with more money and larger research teams, have new drugs and combinations approved or in late-stage testing.
- New drugs and uses may not win approval. Trials are long, costly and uncertain. Zanzalintinib, its lead drug in development, was under FDA review for colorectal cancer as of February 2026, but regulators may not approve it or new cabozantinib uses.
- Reliance on partners and outside manufacturers. Ipsen and Takeda handle cabozantinib outside the US, and Exelixis cannot control how much effort they invest. It also lacks its own manufacturing and distribution, depending on outside firms to make and ship its drugs.
- Pressure on drug prices and insurance coverage. Sales depend on Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plans covering CABOMETYX. Abroad, slow government pricing reviews and cost controls could delay launches or push prices down, reducing revenue.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
For income and retirement investors
Exelixis paid no dividends from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025, so an income investor would have received no regular cash; drawing income would mean trimming the holding. Instead, it has returned cash through share buybacks, or repurchases of its own stock: $2.15 billion over those five years, including $947.5 million in fiscal 2025, more than that year's $875.8 million of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). The share count fell 21.7% between October 2021 and July 2026.
The price can swing hard. In the 2008 financial crisis the shares fell about 80% from peak to low and took about 27 months from that low to recover. They fell about 34% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered in about a month, and about 35% in the 2022 bear market, a prolonged market slide, needing about 14 months. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Exelixis make money?
Mostly from one cancer medicine, cabozantinib. In fiscal 2025, which ended January 2, 2026, Exelixis's own US sales of CABOMETYX tablets and COMETRIQ capsules brought in $2.12 billion of its $2.32 billion in revenue. Outside the US, Takeda markets the drug in Japan and Ipsen everywhere else, paying Exelixis royalties, a share of their sales, that totaled $179.2 million. It also has two smaller partnered drugs: COTELLIC for melanoma, with Genentech, and MINNEBRO for high blood pressure, licensed to Daiichi Sankyo in Japan.
Does Exelixis pay a dividend?
No. Exelixis paid no dividends from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025, and its stock had no dividend yield as of October 28, 2026. It has returned cash through share buybacks, or repurchases of its own stock, instead: $2.15 billion over those five years, including $947.5 million in fiscal 2025. The share count fell 21.7%, from about 316.4 million in October 2021 to 247.8 million in July 2026. Investors who need regular income get none from these shares.
Is Exelixis profitable?
Yes. Fiscal 2025, which ended January 2, 2026, was its ninth consecutive profitable year. Net income was $782.6 million on $2.32 billion of revenue, or $2.78 per diluted share (which counts shares from stock options), and free cash flow was $875.8 million. In the quarter ended July 3, 2026, revenue rose 10.6% to $628.7 million and net income rose 14.7% to $212.1 million. On that date it held $1.38 billion in cash and investments, and its filings showed no borrowings.
What is zanzalintinib?
Zanzalintinib is Exelixis's lead experimental cancer drug, a pill that blocks several kinases (proteins that can drive tumor growth), including the TAM kinases, MET and VEGF receptors. As of the company's February 10, 2026 annual report, the FDA was reviewing it for certain forms of colorectal cancer. The company also had ongoing and planned pivotal trials, the large studies used to seek approval, in kidney cancer, neuroendocrine tumors and meningioma. Approval is not guaranteed.
How has Exelixis stock performed?
Strongly over the long run, with deep drops along the way. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was up 65.4% over one year and had gained about 25% a year over five years and about 19.8% a year over ten years. Over about 21 years of price history, its worst fall was 89.6%. It also dropped about 80% in the 2008 financial crisis and about 35% in 2022. Past returns do not predict future ones.