ESPR

Esperion has gone from a cash-burning launch story to something genuinely close to breakeven: revenue compounded from $78M (FY2021) to $403M (FY2025), the 2025 YoY growth was +21.3%, and the net loss narrowed to just $22.7M from -$269M four years ago. Operating income of $60.3M at a 15.0% margin shows NEXLETOL/NEXLIZET now cover their commercial overhead, and the MD&A explicitly attributes the 2025 result to an Otsuka milestone plus net product sales — i.e., the international royalty/collaboration model is doing real work alongside the U.S. franchise. With approvals stacking up (Japan NHI pricing Q4 2025, Canada NEXLETOL approved Q4 2025 and NEXLIZET expected H1 2026, Israel H1 2026, Australia Q4 2026), top-line momentum has multiple near-term legs.

The problem is the balance sheet and capital structure. Stockholders' equity is -$302M against $768M of liabilities, accumulated deficit is -$1.62B, and the share count has grown 29.8% YoY to 257M — a textbook reminder that prior survival came at heavy dilution and the company funded itself via 'revenue interest and royalty purchase agreements' (Oberland RIPA) per the MD&A. The 2024 loss explicitly included a 'loss on extinguishment on the Oberland RIPA and convertible notes Exchange Transaction,' meaning some of the recent P&L improvement reflects financing cleanup rather than pure operating leverage. Operating cash flow is still -$13.1M despite the GAAP operating profit, so the business is not yet self-funding on a cash basis.