With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Precigen, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PGEN) future prospects. Precigen, Inc. operates as a discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target diseases in therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. With the latest financial year loss of US$96m and a trailing-twelve-month loss of US$135m, the US$322m market-cap company amplified its loss by moving further away from its breakeven target. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Precigen will turn a profit, with the big question being "when will the company breakeven?" In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable.

According to the 5 industry analysts covering Precigen, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2025, before turning a profit of US$80m in 2026. So, the company is predicted to breakeven approximately 2 years from now. How fast will the company have to grow each year in order to reach the breakeven point by 2026? Working backwards from analyst estimates, it turns out that they expect the company to grow 64% year-on-year, on average, which signals high confidence from analysts. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

We're not going to go through company-specific developments for Precigen given that this is a high-level summary, though, take into account that typically a biotech has lumpy cash flows which are contingent on the product type and stage of development the company is in. This means that a high growth rate is not unusual, especially if the company is currently in an investment period.

Before we wrap up, there's one aspect worth mentioning. Precigen currently has no debt on its balance sheet, which is quite unusual for a cash-burning biotech, which typically has high debt relative to its equity. This means that the company has been operating purely on its equity investment and has no debt burden. This aspect reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis on Precigen, so if you are interested in understanding the company at a deeper level, take a look at Precigen's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of relevant factors you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is Precigen worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Precigen is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Precigen's board and the CEO's background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.