With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MIRM) future prospects. Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for debilitating rare and orphan diseases. The US$1.9b market-cap company posted a loss in its most recent financial year of US$163m and a latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$109m shrinking the gap between loss and breakeven. As path to profitability is the topic on Mirum Pharmaceuticals' investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. 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 10 industry analysts covering Mirum Pharmaceuticals, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2025, before turning a profit of US$52m in 2026. The company is therefore projected to breakeven around 2 years from now. In order to meet this breakeven date, we calculated the rate at which the company must grow year-on-year. It turns out an average annual growth rate of 70% is expected, which is rather optimistic! Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Given this is a high-level overview, we won't go into details of Mirum Pharmaceuticals' upcoming projects, but, keep in mind that generally biotechs, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. 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. Mirum Pharmaceuticals currently has a debt-to-equity ratio of 134%. Generally, the rule of thumb is debt shouldn't exceed 40% of your equity, which in this case, the company has significantly overshot. Note that a higher debt obligation increases the risk in investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

There are key fundamentals of Mirum Pharmaceuticals which are not covered in this article, but we must stress again that this is merely a basic overview. For a more comprehensive look at Mirum Pharmaceuticals, take a look at Mirum Pharmaceuticals' company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of relevant aspects you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is Mirum 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 Mirum 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 Mirum 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.