With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ITCI) future prospects. Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, clinical development, and commercialization of small molecule drugs that address medical needs primarily in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders by targeting intracellular signaling mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS) in the United States. The US$7.7b market-cap company's loss lessened since it announced a US$140m loss in the full financial year, compared to the latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$84m, as it approaches breakeven. The most pressing concern for investors is Intra-Cellular Therapies' path to profitability – when will it breakeven? We've put together a brief outline of industry analyst expectations for the company, its year of breakeven and its implied growth rate.

According to the 15 industry analysts covering Intra-Cellular Therapies, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2024, before turning a profit of US$74m in 2025. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven just over a year from today. 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 64%, which is rather optimistic! If this rate turns out to be too aggressive, the company may become profitable much later than analysts predict.

Underlying developments driving Intra-Cellular Therapies' growth isn't the focus of this broad overview, but, keep in mind that typically pharmaceuticals, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. This means, large upcoming growth rates are not abnormal as the company is beginning to reap the benefits of earlier investments.

One thing we'd like to point out is that Intra-Cellular Therapies has no debt on its balance sheet, which is quite unusual for a cash-burning pharma, which typically has high debt relative to its equity. The company currently operates purely off its shareholder funding and has no debt obligation, reducing concerns around repayments and making it a less risky investment.

Next Steps:

There are too many aspects of Intra-Cellular Therapies to cover in one brief article, but the key fundamentals for the company can all be found in one place – Intra-Cellular Therapies' company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of relevant aspects you should further examine:

1. Valuation: What is Intra-Cellular Therapies 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 Intra-Cellular Therapies 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 Intra-Cellular Therapies'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.