BofA Initiates Coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals with Buy Rating
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 11 2026
0mins
Should l Buy LGND?
Source: Benzinga
- Unique Business Model: Ligand Pharmaceuticals operates as a biopharmaceutical royalty aggregator, providing financing and licensing to biopharma developers, showcasing strong growth potential with ambitious revenue and earnings targets.
- Strong Financial Performance: The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, exceeding the consensus of $1.56, with sales reaching $59.7 million, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $55.6 million, indicating robust profitability.
- Future Growth Potential: With 12 major commercial-stage assets, Ligand is well-positioned to support its profit and loss, while its portfolio of over 100 programs offers additional revenue opportunities, demonstrating strong market competitiveness.
- Attractive Valuation: BofA initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a price target of $244, highlighting Ligand's higher margins and lower infrastructure needs compared to traditional biopharma firms, suggesting a positive outlook for future growth.
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Analyst Views on LGND
Wall Street analysts forecast LGND stock price to rise
6 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 200.360
Low
220.00
Averages
237.20
High
270.00
Current: 200.360
Low
220.00
Averages
237.20
High
270.00
About LGND
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company enabling scientific advancement through supporting the clinical development of medicines. It does this by financing, licensing its technologies or both. It operates two infrastructure-light royalty-generating IP platform technologies. Its Captisol platform technology is a chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. This technology has enabled FDA-approved products, including Gilead’s Veklury, Amgen’s Kyprolis, Baxter’s Nexterone, and Acrotech Biopharma’s Evomela. Its NITRICIL platform technology facilitates tunable dosing, permitting an adjustable drug release profile to allow proprietary formulations that target a range of indications. Its technologies also include HepDirect, LTP and BEPro Technology Platform, and Pelican Expression Technology. It has multiple alliances, licenses and other business relationships with various pharmaceutical companies.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
BofA Initiates Coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals with Buy Rating
- Unique Business Model: Ligand Pharmaceuticals operates as a biopharmaceutical royalty aggregator, providing financing and licensing to biopharma developers, showcasing strong growth potential with ambitious revenue and earnings targets.
- Strong Financial Performance: The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, exceeding the consensus of $1.56, with sales reaching $59.7 million, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $55.6 million, indicating robust profitability.
- Future Growth Potential: With 12 major commercial-stage assets, Ligand is well-positioned to support its profit and loss, while its portfolio of over 100 programs offers additional revenue opportunities, demonstrating strong market competitiveness.
- Attractive Valuation: BofA initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a price target of $244, highlighting Ligand's higher margins and lower infrastructure needs compared to traditional biopharma firms, suggesting a positive outlook for future growth.
See More
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC: BOFA GLOBAL RESEARCH STARTS COVERAGE WITH A BUY RATING AND A TARGET PRICE OF $244
Company Overview: LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS is involved in global research initiatives, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.
Market Activity: The company has a buy rating with a price objective set at $244, indicating positive investor sentiment.
See More
Bank of America Initiates Buy on Ligand Pharmaceuticals with $244 Target
- Coverage Initiation: Bank of America has initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) with a Buy rating and a $244 price target, emphasizing its high-margin yet lower-risk business model, which is expected to attract increased investor interest.
- Unique Business Model: Analyst Jason Zemansky noted that Ligand generates diversified, high-margin returns by providing capital and technology to drug and medical device developers, showcasing its unique business model that enhances market competitiveness.
- Investment Team Strength: Zemansky highlighted that Ligand's investment team is one of its greatest assets, with decades of experience and strong industry relationships, demonstrating a solid execution record that adds credibility to the company's thesis.
- Sustained Growth Potential: Despite outperforming its biotech peers over the past 12 months, Ligand's stock is poised for further gains, as increased investor confidence in meeting its annual and long-term growth targets is likely to drive greater market engagement.
See More
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Rice Hall James Increases Stake in QuidelOrtho
- Share Increase: Rice Hall James & Associates acquired 574,877 shares of QuidelOrtho in Q4 2026, reflecting confidence in the company's future prospects despite a 43.4% decline in stock price over the past year.
- Investment Value: This acquisition raised QuidelOrtho's stake to 1.3% of the fund's 13F reportable assets, indicating recognition of its potential value, which may attract further investor interest.
- Market Performance: As of February 13, 2026, QuidelOrtho's market capitalization stood at $1.6 billion with a current price of $23.58, trailing the S&P 500 by 55.2 percentage points, highlighting competitive pressures in the market.
- Strategic Adjustments: QuidelOrtho is undergoing strategic adjustments, including strengthening its product pipeline and improving spending returns, with analysts expecting these efforts to yield modest revenue and operating profit growth in the coming years.
See More
Rice Hall James Increases Stake in QuidelOrtho
- Increased Holdings: Rice Hall James purchased 574,877 shares of QuidelOrtho in Q4, raising its total stake to 833,791 shares valued at $23.8 million, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's future prospects.
- Investment Value Growth: The position's value increased by $16.2 million at quarter-end, indicating a rise in stock price and additional share purchases, suggesting the fund's optimistic view on QuidelOrtho's potential value.
- Industry Position: As a leader in in vitro diagnostics, QuidelOrtho has struggled with consistent revenue growth and profitability in recent years, but its strategic adjustments and strengthened product pipeline may improve financial performance, attracting value investors.
- Market Expectations: Analysts expect QuidelOrtho to achieve modest revenue and operating profit growth in the coming years, although the Motley Fool analyst team did not include it in their list of top investment stocks, indicating a divergence in market perceptions of its potential.
See More
BofA Initiates Coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals with Buy Rating
- Unique Business Model: Ligand Pharmaceuticals operates as a biopharmaceutical royalty aggregator, providing financing and licensing to biopharma developers, showcasing strong growth potential with ambitious revenue and earnings targets.
- Strong Financial Performance: The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, exceeding the consensus of $1.56, with sales reaching $59.7 million, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $55.6 million, indicating robust profitability.
- Future Growth Potential: With 12 major commercial-stage assets, Ligand is well-positioned to support its profit and loss, while its portfolio of over 100 programs offers additional revenue opportunities, demonstrating strong market competitiveness.
- Attractive Valuation: BofA initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a price target of $244, highlighting Ligand's higher margins and lower infrastructure needs compared to traditional biopharma firms, suggesting a positive outlook for future growth.
See More
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC: BOFA GLOBAL RESEARCH STARTS COVERAGE WITH A BUY RATING AND A TARGET PRICE OF $244
Company Overview: LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS is involved in global research initiatives, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.
Market Activity: The company has a buy rating with a price objective set at $244, indicating positive investor sentiment.
See More
Bank of America Initiates Buy on Ligand Pharmaceuticals with $244 Target
- Coverage Initiation: Bank of America has initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) with a Buy rating and a $244 price target, emphasizing its high-margin yet lower-risk business model, which is expected to attract increased investor interest.
- Unique Business Model: Analyst Jason Zemansky noted that Ligand generates diversified, high-margin returns by providing capital and technology to drug and medical device developers, showcasing its unique business model that enhances market competitiveness.
- Investment Team Strength: Zemansky highlighted that Ligand's investment team is one of its greatest assets, with decades of experience and strong industry relationships, demonstrating a solid execution record that adds credibility to the company's thesis.
- Sustained Growth Potential: Despite outperforming its biotech peers over the past 12 months, Ligand's stock is poised for further gains, as increased investor confidence in meeting its annual and long-term growth targets is likely to drive greater market engagement.
See More
Latest Wall Street Rating Updates
- JPMorgan Upgrades Oracle: JPMorgan upgraded Oracle from neutral to overweight, citing a 55% drop in shares since mid-September that has de-risked valuation, while shifting investor expectations to a lower bar for FY30 targets and OpenAI ramp.
- Evercore Reiterates Netflix Outperform: Evercore ISI's survey indicates strengthening customer satisfaction and pricing power for Netflix, reinforcing its status as a high-quality asset in global streaming, supported by unmatched scale and localized content production.
- Barclays Double Upgrades Arthur J. Gallagher: Barclays upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher from underweight to overweight, viewing the insurance company as a “great” defensive play in the current market environment, highlighting its resilience amid economic uncertainty.
- Barclays Reiterates Tesla Equal Weight: Barclays noted Tesla's battery energy storage system sales are capacity constrained, but expansion supports robust growth ahead, with expectations for Tesla to maintain top global market share in 2025, showcasing significant potential in the storage market.
See More
Rice Hall James Increases Stake in QuidelOrtho
- Share Increase: Rice Hall James & Associates acquired 574,877 shares of QuidelOrtho in Q4 2026, reflecting confidence in the company's future prospects despite a 43.4% decline in stock price over the past year.
- Investment Value: This acquisition raised QuidelOrtho's stake to 1.3% of the fund's 13F reportable assets, indicating recognition of its potential value, which may attract further investor interest.
- Market Performance: As of February 13, 2026, QuidelOrtho's market capitalization stood at $1.6 billion with a current price of $23.58, trailing the S&P 500 by 55.2 percentage points, highlighting competitive pressures in the market.
- Strategic Adjustments: QuidelOrtho is undergoing strategic adjustments, including strengthening its product pipeline and improving spending returns, with analysts expecting these efforts to yield modest revenue and operating profit growth in the coming years.
See More
Rice Hall James Increases Stake in QuidelOrtho
- Increased Holdings: Rice Hall James purchased 574,877 shares of QuidelOrtho in Q4, raising its total stake to 833,791 shares valued at $23.8 million, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's future prospects.
- Investment Value Growth: The position's value increased by $16.2 million at quarter-end, indicating a rise in stock price and additional share purchases, suggesting the fund's optimistic view on QuidelOrtho's potential value.
- Industry Position: As a leader in in vitro diagnostics, QuidelOrtho has struggled with consistent revenue growth and profitability in recent years, but its strategic adjustments and strengthened product pipeline may improve financial performance, attracting value investors.
- Market Expectations: Analysts expect QuidelOrtho to achieve modest revenue and operating profit growth in the coming years, although the Motley Fool analyst team did not include it in their list of top investment stocks, indicating a divergence in market perceptions of its potential.
See More
