Is LGND a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how LGND compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to LGND based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes LGND a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

LGND - Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $267.75 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

F 30.0 / 100 pillar composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

⚠ 2 of the last 5 fiscal years showed negative net income — AlphaQuality will not grade above F for persistent unprofitability in a platform & compounding fcf business.

Grade overrides the 30.0 pillar composite because hard gates always win. Use the pillar breakdown below to see where the underlying numbers sit.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

F 20.4

5yr Avg ROIC 3.8% 29/100
Operating Margin Trend -6.59 pp/yr 0/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

F 22.0

5yr Avg ROE 3.9% 29/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 4.2% 8/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

B- 62.4

5yr Revenue CAGR 2.6% 42/100
5yr EPS CAGR 16.4% 90/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

B+ 76.5

5yr FCF Margin 30.3% 100/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.51x 48/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

A+ 100.0

Net Debt / EBITDA -1.46x 100/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 30.00x 100/100
Altman Z-Score 6.78 100/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

D 35.0

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 1.19 0/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

2 of 3 gurus held; 2 trimmed; 2 full exits.

Holders: 2 -1
Avg Δ position: -63.2%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 2

Dalio sold -100%
Wood sold -100%
Cooperman decreased -71%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.