Should I Buy LGND? LGND 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (LGND) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

190.440

1 Day change

-0.65%

52 Week Range

212.490

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/05

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Good buy right now: Yes—risk/reward is attractive near the pivot/support zone (~198) with bullish Street targets well above $201.
Near-term setup: Price is sitting just below first resistance (~$204.6); a modest push higher can retest $205–$209.
Sentiment: Options positioning is notably call-skewed (low put/call), reinforcing a constructive bias.
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
- AI Stock Picker: no signal on given stock today.
- SwingMax: No signal on given stock recently.

Technical Analysis

Trend/Momentum: Neutral-to-slightly bullish consolidation; moving averages are converging (no strong trend confirmation).
MACD: Histogram at -0.0588 (below zero) but negatively contracting, suggesting bearish momentum is fading.
RSI (6): 54.8 (neutral), consistent with consolidation rather than an overbought/oversold extreme.
Key levels:
- Pivot: 197.83 (important “line in the sand”)
- Resistance: R1 204.61, R2 208.81
- Support: S1 191.05, S2 186.85

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning: Put/Call OI ratio 0.39 (call-heavy; generally bullish sentiment/positioning).
Activity: Very light volume today (3 calls, 0 puts) but volume vs 30-day avg is 1.36x.
Volatility: 30D IV 40.88% vs HV 38.76% (options pricing slightly richer than realized).
IV context: IV percentile 68.4 (elevated vs its own history), suggesting the market is pricing meaningful event/catalyst risk into options.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Strong Wall Street tone: Multiple Buy/Outperform ratings with rising price targets (bullish re-rating narrative around royalty portfolio).
- Event runway: Citi highlights end-2025/2026 data catalysts; plus a key partner FDA decision window (Travere) referenced for Jan 13, 2026.
- Upcoming earnings: Next reported earnings QDEC 2025 on 2026-02-26 (Pre-Market) can act as a near-term catalyst.
- Trading trends: Hedge funds and insiders reported as Neutral (no broad selling pressure signal from these cohorts).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- No fresh news this week: Lacks an immediate headline catalyst right now.
- Earnings risk: 2026-02-26 earnings can introduce sharp moves (options IV already somewhat elevated).
- Technical overhead: Nearby resistance at $204.6–$208.8 could cap upside until broken convincingly.
- Congress/influential trading: No recent congress trading data available (no supportive signal from that channel).

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q3
Revenue: $115.46M, +122.85% YoY (strong top-line growth).
Gross margin: 89.7%, +13.07% YoY (very strong profitability profile on gross basis).
Net income & EPS: Net income $117.27M and EPS 5.68 both show large YoY declines (high volatility likely driven by one-time/non-operating items and comp variability typical of royalty/deal-driven models).

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Trend: Clearly improving—recent coverage includes multiple price target raises and a new Buy initiation.
Recent notable actions:
- Citi (Buy, PT $270) initiated; emphasizes lower volatility via royalties and flags a 90-day catalyst watch.
- Oppenheimer (Outperform, PT $275) raised; highlights royalties/out-licensing and expects value-unlocking events.
- RBC (Outperform, PT $234), Stifel (Buy, PT $230), Benchmark (Buy, PT $220) all raised targets post-results/investor updates.
Wall Street pros: Diversified royalty portfolio, multiple catalysts, re-rating potential.
Wall Street cons: Earnings can be lumpy/volatile due to deal timing and non-recurring items, which can create sharp quarter-to-quarter swings.

7 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast LGND stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for LGND is 243.5 USD with a low forecast of 220 USD and a high forecast of 275 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

7 Buy

0 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 191.690

Low

220

Averages

243.5

High

275

Current: 191.690

Low

220

Averages

243.5

High

275

Stifel

Buy

maintain

$220 -> $230

AI Analysis

2025-12-10

Reason

Stifel

Price Target

$220 -> $230

AI Analysis

2025-12-10

maintain

Buy

Reason

Stifel raised the firm's price target on Ligand to $230 from $220 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after an investor day that the firm says covered "key growth drivers within its diverse royalty portfolio as well as recent value-creating transactions" that will support achieving the raised five-year royalty compound annual growth rate of greater than 23%.

Citi

NULL

Buy

initiated

$270

2025-12-09

Reason

Citi

Price Target

$270

2025-12-09

initiated

NULL

Buy

Reason

Citi initiated coverage of Ligand (LGND) with a Buy rating and $270 price target. The firm says the company's focus on royalties and platform out-licensing limits volatility and concentration risk. Citi believes the stock can re-rate further with data catalysts coming in the end of 2025 and 2026. Citi also added an "upside 90-day catalyst watch" on Ligand shares. It expects the company's partner Travere Therapeutics (TVTX) to receive FDA approval on or before the upcoming action date of January 13, 2026.

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LGND Should I Buy

LGND Should I Buy

Should You Buy Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (LGND) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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