Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to shine some light on the company. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics based on ribonucleic acid interference. The US$32b market-cap company posted a loss in its most recent financial year of US$440m and a latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$332m shrinking the gap between loss and breakeven. The most pressing concern for investors is Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' path to profitability – when will it breakeven? Below we will provide a high-level summary of the industry analysts' expectations for the company.

Consensus from 30 of the American Biotechs analysts is that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is on the verge of breakeven. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2025, before generating positive profits of US$379m in 2026. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven roughly 2 years from now. What rate will the company have to grow year-on-year in order to breakeven on this date? Using a line of best fit, we calculated an average annual growth rate of 70%, which is extremely buoyant. If this rate turns out to be too aggressive, the company may become profitable much later than analysts predict.

Underlying developments driving Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' growth isn't the focus of this broad overview, but, bear in mind 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 issue worth mentioning. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals currently has a debt-to-equity ratio of over 2x. Generally, the rule of thumb is debt shouldn't exceed 40% of your equity, which in this case, the company has significantly overshot. A higher level of debt requires more stringent capital management which increases the risk in investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, so if you are interested in understanding the company at a deeper level, take a look at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of pertinent factors you should further examine:

1. Valuation: What is Alnylam Pharmaceuticals 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 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals 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 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals'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.