With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AGIO) future prospects. Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops medicines in the field of cellular metabolism in the United States. The US$2.5b market-cap company posted a loss in its most recent financial year of US$352m and a latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$365m leading to an even wider gap between loss and breakeven. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Agios Pharmaceuticals will turn a profit, with the big question being "when will the company breakeven?" We've put together a brief outline of industry analyst expectations for the company, its year of breakeven and its implied growth rate.

Agios Pharmaceuticals is bordering on breakeven, according to the 10 American Biotechs analysts. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2023, before generating positive profits of US$396m in 2024. The company is therefore projected to breakeven around a year from now or less! We calculated the rate at which the company must grow to meet the consensus forecasts predicting breakeven within 12 months. It turns out an average annual growth rate of -1.8% is expected,

We're not going to go through company-specific developments for Agios Pharmaceuticals given that this is a high-level summary, however, bear in mind that generally biotechs, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. This means that a low or volatile growth rate in the near future is not unusual, especially if the company is currently in an investment period.

Before we wrap up, there's one aspect worth mentioning. Agios Pharmaceuticals currently has no debt on its balance sheet, which is quite unusual for a cash-burning biotech, which usually has a high level of debt relative to its equity. This means that the company has been operating purely on its equity investment and has no debt burden. This aspect reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

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

1. Valuation: What is Agios 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 Agios 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 Agios 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.