With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Ardelyx, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ARDX) future prospects. Ardelyx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The US$1.4b market-cap company's loss lessened since it announced a US$66m loss in the full financial year, compared to the latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$65m, as it approaches breakeven. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Ardelyx will turn a profit, with the big question being "when will the company breakeven?" Below we will provide a high-level summary of the industry analysts' expectations for the company.

Consensus from 10 of the American Biotechs analysts is that Ardelyx is on the verge of breakeven. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2025, before generating positive profits of US$116m 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 66% year-on-year, on average, which is rather optimistic! Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Underlying developments driving Ardelyx's growth isn't the focus of this broad overview, but, take into account that generally biotechs, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. So, a high growth rate is not out of the ordinary, particularly when a company is in a period of investment.

Before we wrap up, there's one issue worth mentioning. Ardelyx currently has a relatively high level of debt. Typically, debt shouldn't exceed 40% of your equity, which in Ardelyx's case is 84%. Note that a higher debt obligation increases the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

There are too many aspects of Ardelyx to cover in one brief article, but the key fundamentals for the company can all be found in one place – Ardelyx's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of essential aspects you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is Ardelyx 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 Ardelyx 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 Ardelyx'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.