Start here if you're new
what it is
Esperion sells two daily pills for people who need lower LDL cholesterol but cannot follow standard statin treatment.
how it gets paid
Last year Esperion Therapeutic made $403M in revenue. partner collaboration revenue was the main engine at $167.9M, or 42% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 21.3% last year. Sales jumped 169% vs. prior year, which is the loud part.
what just happened
Revenue hit $235M in the latest quarter, but EPS stayed negative at -$0.43.
At a glance
C+ balance sheet — struggling to keep the lights on
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
$0.01 fy2024 eps est
$332M fy2024 rev est
16.4% operating margin
xvary composite: 29/100 — weak
What they do
Esperion sells two daily pills for people who need lower LDL cholesterol but cannot follow standard statin treatment.
Esperion sells pills, not injections, into a giant problem: high LDL cholesterol. Oral once-daily means simple to prescribe, simple to take, and hard to ignore when FY2025 U.S. net product revenue reached $159.6 million. If your doctor wants LDL down and statins are not working for you, convenience matters more than biotech poetry.
How they make money
$403M
annual revenue · their business grew +21.3% last year
u.s. nexletol product sales
$95.8M
+38.0%
u.s. nexlizet product sales
$63.8M
+38.0%
partner collaboration revenue
$167.9M
+21.3%
royalty and licensing revenue
$75.6M
+21.3%
The products that matter
oral ldl-lowering therapy
Nexletol (bempedoic acid)
$159.6M · U.S. net product revenue
it generated $159.6M in U.S. net product revenue in 2025, up 38% from last year. that's the proof patients and prescribers are showing up.
core commercial asset
combination cholesterol therapy
Nexlizet (bempedoic acid/ezetimibe)
part of the $403.1M 2025 revenue base
it sits inside Esperion's cardiovascular franchise and helps support the company's $403.1M 2025 revenue base. the issue is not whether it exists. the issue is whether that franchise gets large enough to carry the balance sheet.
franchise depth
partner and licensing economics
Collaboration Revenue
$243.5M · 60% of 2025 revenue
this line produced $243.5M in 2025, more than U.S. product sales. that's useful cash, but it also means you are not looking at a purely self-propelled commercial machine yet.
bigger than U.S. sales
Key numbers
$0.01
fy2024 eps est
$332M
fy2024 rev est
n/a
trailing p/e
n/a
dividend yield
Financial health
C+
strength
- balance sheet grade C+ — weak — may struggle to fund operations
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $448M (42% of capital)
C+ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for ESPR right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Revenue hit $235M in the latest quarter, but EPS stayed negative at -$0.43.
Sales jumped 169% vs. prior year, which is the loud part. The quiet part is that a business can grow that fast and still report a loss.
$235M
revenue
$0.43
eps
16.4%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was $235 million in quarterly revenue, because it shows commercial traction is now large enough to matter at the company level.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is commercial growth failing to outrun debt and cash burn. ESPR already carries $448M of long-term debt and -$52.59M in levered free cash flow, so this is not a company with much room for a stumble.
med
cash burn stays the main character
Esperion burned -$52.59M in levered free cash flow. That means even after a better revenue year, the business still needs funding support from somewhere.
If free cash flow does not improve, equity holders remain behind the debt stack while waiting for the turnaround to prove itself.
med
debt can absorb the upside first
Long-term debt stands at $448M, or 42% of capital, against a market cap of about $627M. That is a lot of balance-sheet weight for a company with a -5.63% profit margin.
You can get the product story right and still have the equity underperform if debt keeps dominating the capital structure.
med
the oral niche may stay a niche
U.S. product sales grew 38%, but Esperion still competes against cheap generic statins and newer injectable LDL therapies. Revenue traction has improved. Market power has not.
If prescription growth slows before the company reaches self-funding scale, the valuation can stay cheap for reasons that are not mysterious.
med
the Corstasis deal raises the bar
The announced $75M Corstasis acquisition adds another asset, but it also asks investors to trust management on capital allocation while the core business is still proving itself.
When a company with negative cash flow starts buying optionality, the market usually wants faster proof, not bigger promises.
a business with $403.1M in 2025 revenue, -$52.59M in free cash flow, and $448M of debt does not get many quiet quarters.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
u.s. product sales versus collaboration revenue
U.S. product sales were $159.6M in 2025 while collaboration and other revenue were $243.5M. You want the commercial engine to keep closing that gap.
calendar
q1 2026 earnings report
The next report matters less for headline EPS and more for whether revenue quality and cash usage are moving in the same direction.
risk
2026 operating expense discipline
Management guided to $225M–$255M in operating expense. If spend drifts toward the high end without a matching commercial payoff, the story gets tougher fast.
trend
what the Corstasis acquisition actually adds
The $75M deal can become useful pipeline depth or just one more demand on cash. You are looking for evidence, not press-release optimism.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
35 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not expect smooth quarters here. the business is still too dependent on deal economics, adoption pace, and expense control.
risk rank
5
that means safer than only 5% of stocks in the dataset. translation: you own volatility with company-specific financing risk attached.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for ESPR is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$3
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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