Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SLN) is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to shine some light on the company. Silence Therapeutics plc, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery and development novel molecules incorporating short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to inhibit the expression of specific target genes in hematology, cardiovascular, and rare diseases. The US$133m market-cap company announced a latest loss of US$45m on 31 December 2024 for its most recent financial year result. As path to profitability is the topic on Silence Therapeutics' investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable.

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According to the 7 industry analysts covering Silence Therapeutics, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2026, before turning a profit of US$139m in 2027. The company is therefore projected to breakeven around 2 years from today. How fast will the company have to grow each year in order to reach the breakeven point by 2027? Working backwards from analyst estimates, it turns out that they expect the company to grow 32% year-on-year, on average, which is extremely buoyant. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Given this is a high-level overview, we won’t go into details of Silence Therapeutics' upcoming projects, but, take into account that typically a biotech has lumpy cash flows which are contingent on the product type and stage of development the company is in. This means that a high growth rate is not unusual, especially if the company is currently in an investment period.

See our latest analysis for Silence Therapeutics

One thing we’d like to point out is that Silence Therapeutics 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:

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

1. Historical Track Record: What has Silence Therapeutics' performance been like over the past? Go into more detail in the past track record analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of our analysis for more clarity.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Silence Therapeutics' 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.