We feel now is a pretty good time to analyse Open Orphan Plc's (LON:ORPH) business as it appears the company may be on the cusp of a considerable accomplishment. Open Orphan Plc operates as a pharmaceutical service and contract research company. The UK£74m market-cap company announced a latest loss of UK£74k on 31 December 2021 for its most recent financial year result. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Open Orphan will turn a profit, with the big question being “when will the company breakeven?” Below we will provide a high-level summary of the industry analysts’ expectations for the company.

See our latest analysis for Open Orphan

Open Orphan is bordering on breakeven, according to the 4 British Life Sciences analysts. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2021, before turning a profit of UK£3.3m in 2022. So, the company is predicted to breakeven approximately 12 months 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 51% is expected, which is extremely buoyant. If this rate turns out to be too aggressive, the company may become profitable much later than analysts predict.

Underlying developments driving Open Orphan's growth isn’t the focus of this broad overview, however, keep in mind that generally life science companies, 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.

One thing we’d like to point out is that The company has managed its capital prudently, with debt making up 1.4% of equity. This means that it has predominantly funded its operations from equity capital, and its low debt obligation reduces the risk around investing in the loss-making company.

Next Steps:

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis on Open Orphan, so if you are interested in understanding the company at a deeper level, take a look at Open Orphan's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of relevant factors you should further examine:

1. Valuation: What is Open Orphan 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 Open Orphan 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 Open Orphan’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.