At a glance
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is worth $6.38B, about 52 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 60.4% to $268.1M in fiscal 2025, with 46.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 10.4% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $15.0M buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +68.8% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +16.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 41.3% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 50.8% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 2 months and 38 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical royalty company. Rather than selling its own medicines, it collects royalties: a percentage of sales of drugs that other companies develop and sell. It gets these rights in three main ways. It buys existing royalties, it funds late-stage clinical trials in exchange for a cut of future sales, and it buys companies that hold royalty rights. Partners such as Amgen, Merck, Jazz, Travere and Recordati handle late-stage development, manufacturing and marketing, which keeps Ligand's own costs low. Ligand counts 12 major royalty assets on drugs already on the market, plus more than 90 other programs on drugs that are on sale or still in development.
Ligand also runs two technology platforms. Captisol, the larger one, is a patented ingredient that helps drugs dissolve and stay stable. It has been used in 17 FDA-approved products, including Gilead's Veklury and Amgen's Kyprolis. Ligand earns royalties on those drugs and also sells Captisol to drugmakers. NITRICIL, a nitric oxide technology, is used in Zelsuvmi, an at-home treatment for molluscum contagiosum, a viral skin infection.
Revenue was $268.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2025. The largest sources were income from the Pelthos Transaction (about 20%), Captisol (15%), Travere's Filspari (12%), income from financial royalty assets (11%) and Recordati's Qarziba (9%). The Pelthos Transaction was the July 2025 separation of Ligand's Pelthos Therapeutics business, in which Ligand kept a stake.
Price history
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LGND +68.8% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Income from Pelthos Transaction | $53.1M | 19.8% |
| Captisol | $40.2M | 15% |
| Captisol | $40.2M | 15% |
| Filspari | $32.0M | 11.9% |
| Income from financial royalty assets | $28.5M | 10.6% |
| Qarziba | $23.7M | 8.9% |
| Rylaze | $13.3M | 5% |
| Other | $10.4M | 3.9% |
| Capvaxive | $10.1M | 3.8% |
| Ohtuvayre | $9.8M | 3.6% |
| Teriparatide injection | $8.1M | 3% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $78.7M, down 31.8% from a year earlier, and net income was $-28.5M (-124.3%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $268.1M (+60.4% year over year; +10.4% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 46.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +10.4% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 15.3% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 18.2% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 12.2% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 8% good |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-680.8M weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $163.6M | $-3.0M | $50.1M |
| FY2021 | $241.5M | $57.1M | $70.0M |
| FY2022 | $196.2M | $-33.4M | $119.9M |
| FY2023 | $131.3M | $52.2M | $46.1M |
| FY2024 | $167.1M | $-4.0M | $95.2M |
| FY2025 | $268.1M | $124.5M | $48.9M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $6.38B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 52 |
| Dividend yield | 0% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated’s market value went from $2.12B at the end of 2016 to $6.38B on Oct 28, 2026, about 3.0 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 71%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $6.38B | +71.4% |
| 2025 | $3.72B | +83.8% |
| 2024 | $2.02B | +62.6% |
| 2023 | $1.25B | +10.3% |
| 2022 | $1.13B | -56.3% |
| 2021 | $2.58B | +61.3% |
| 2020 | $1.60B | -12.6% |
| 2019 | $1.83B | -36.5% |
| 2018 | $2.88B | -0.2% |
| 2017 | $2.89B | +36.1% |
| 2016 | $2.12B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGND price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +68.6% | +68.8% | +86.0% | +16.8% | +12.9% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +68.6% |
| 2025 | +76.5% |
| 2024 | +50.0% |
| 2023 | +6.9% |
| 2022 | -56.8% |
| 2021 | +55.3% |
| 2020 | -4.6% |
| 2019 | -23.1% |
| 2018 | -0.9% |
| 2017 | +34.8% |
| 2016 | -6.3% |
| 2015 | +103.8% |
| 2014 | +1.2% |
| 2013 | +153.6% |
| 2012 | +74.7% |
| 2011 | +33.1% |
| 2010 | -27.5% |
| 2009 | -20.8% |
| 2008 | -43.3% |
| 2007 | -41.3% |
| 2006 | -1.8% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 51.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 78.8%, back to its old high 55 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 30.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 41.3%, back to its old high 2.2 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 39.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 50.8%, back to its old high 38 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 67 sales ($25.2M), 56 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 2026 | Octavio Espinoza Chief Financial Officer | sell (plan) | $9.2M |
| Aug 12, 2026 | Jason Haas Director | sell | $2.1M |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Jason Aryeh Director | sell | $1.1M |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Jason Haas Director | sell | $886K |
| Jun 10, 2026 | John L Lamattina Director | sell | $857K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 14.5% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Invesco Ltd. | 6.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.56% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC | 5.3% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in LGND
| PJP Invesco Pharmaceuticals ETF | 2.57% |
| CAFG Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF | 1.44% |
| IHE iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF | 0.89% |
| TMAT Main Thematic Innovation ETF | 0.59% |
| PINK Simplify Health Care ETF | 0.55% |
| QQQS Invesco NASDAQ Future Gen 200 ETF | 0.54% |
| FYC First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | 0.53% |
| OASC OneAscent Small Cap Core ETF | 0.48% |
What could go wrong
- A handful of partner drugs drive revenue. Much of Ligand's royalty income comes from drugs such as Kyprolis, Filspari, Qarziba, Capvaxive and Rylaze. If any of them sells less than expected, through new competition or weaker insurance coverage, revenue falls.
- Captisol comes from a single supplier. Ligand relies on one supplier for Captisol. A supply interruption could cut Captisol sales, which made up 15% of revenue in 2025, and disrupt partners that need the ingredient for their drugs.
- Partners, not Ligand, control the drugs. Partners decide how hard to develop and sell each drug, and they may change strategy. Ligand usually does not defend the patents behind its royalties, and a partner's insolvency could stop payments.
- Borrowed money raises the stakes. Ligand borrows to buy royalties. Total debt was about $1.13 billion as of June 30, 2026. If royalties underperform, debt magnifies losses, and lenders can claim pledged assets after a default.
- Royalty deals rest on uncertain assumptions. Ligand may have limited information about the drugs behind royalties it buys. If its sales assumptions prove wrong, returns fall short. Competition from other royalty buyers could also limit deals and slow growth.
- Captisol patent protection has an end date. Ligand's last Captisol patents expire in 2033. Pending applications would extend protection to 2041 only if they are granted. Patents can also be challenged in court, which could let competitors in.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed; Acquisition or sale of assets completed; New debt or financial obligation; Investor presentation or announcement
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation; Unregistered sale of shares; Other company announcement
- Major agreement signed; Other company announcement
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Major agreement signed
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Ligand pays no dividend. Its yield was 0% as of October 28, 2026, and it paid no dividends from FY2021 through FY2025. An income investor could get cash only by selling shares, so any return depends on the share price. Buybacks have been small: $15 million in FY2025 and none from FY2021 through FY2024. The number of shares rose about 19%, from 16.7 million in November 2021 to 19.9 million in August 2026, so each share now owns a smaller slice of the company.
The stock has swung hard in past downturns. It fell about 79% during the 2008 financial crisis and did not get back to its earlier high until June 2013. It dropped about 41% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered within about two months. In the 2022 bear market it lost about 51% and took until August 2025 to recover. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds, because one company's setbacks aren't offset by gains elsewhere.
Questions investors ask
How does Ligand Pharmaceuticals make money?
Mostly from royalties: a percentage of sales of drugs that partner companies develop and sell. Major royalty drugs include Amgen's Kyprolis, Travere's Filspari, Recordati's Qarziba, Jazz's Rylaze, and Merck's Capvaxive and Vaxneuvance. Ligand also sells Captisol, an ingredient that helps drugs dissolve. It earns license fees and milestone payments too, which are paid when a partner's drug reaches set goals. Revenue was $268.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2025. Income from the Pelthos Transaction made up about 20% and Captisol 15%.
Does Ligand Pharmaceuticals pay a dividend?
No. Ligand paid no dividends from FY2021 through FY2025, and its dividend yield was 0% as of October 28, 2026. It returned some cash through buybacks, including $15 million in FY2025. Even so, the number of shares rose about 19% between November 2021 and August 2026. Investors who rely on their portfolio for income would have to sell shares to raise cash from this stock.
Is Ligand Pharmaceuticals profitable?
Yes in fiscal 2025, though profits have been uneven. Net income was $124.5 million, or $6.13 per diluted share, as revenue rose 60.4% to $268.1 million. Operating income, which reflects the core business, was a smaller $41.0 million, so items outside regular operations raised the final profit. Ligand reported net losses in 2020, 2022 and 2024. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, net income was $48.5 million on revenue of $63.7 million.
How much debt does Ligand have?
About $1.13 billion as of June 30, 2026. It held more than that in cash and investments, $1.36 billion, which left net cash of about $231 million. The 10-K warns that borrowing to buy royalties magnifies losses if those royalties underperform. It also warns that lenders under its Credit Agreement could take pledged assets if Ligand defaulted.
How has LGND stock performed?
Very well over the past three years, with sharp swings along the way. As of October 28, 2026, its price-based return was 68.8% over one year. Over longer periods it averaged about 86% a year over three years, 16.8% a year over five years and 12.9% a year over ten. It lost about 57% in 2022. Its worst decline in about 21 years of price history was 87.8%. On October 28, 2026, the shares traded at 52 times 2025 earnings per share.