Arbutus Biopharma

ABUS

Biotechnology · Healthcare

Exchange

NASDAQ

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Good

Growth

Good

Cash Flow

Weak

Stability

Good

Valuation

Good

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Winston Score History

The full picture

Arbutus Biopharma is a small biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for chronic hepatitis B, a viral liver infection that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Its main work involves drug candidates designed to potentially cure hepatitis B rather than just manage it, which is the current standard of care. The company also owns a portfolio of patents related to lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, which is a delivery system used to get drugs or genetic material into cells.

Arbutus earns money primarily through licensing its LNP patent portfolio to other companies, which generates royalty and licensing revenue — hence the unusually high margins. It is headquartered in Warminster, Pennsylvania, and operates mainly in North America. The LNP patent portfolio has been a source of legal disputes, including with Moderna, making intellectual property litigation both a key asset and a significant ongoing risk. The outcome of those patent battles could materially affect the company's future revenue.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-90.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-327.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

20.5%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Runway

~4 years

$93M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

$93M cash & investments at current burn rate

Revenue declining

Arbutus Biopharma's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

100.0%

Premium pricing power — 100.0% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

-588.2%

Losing money on operations — -588.2%

Return on the money invested

ROCE

56.9%

Exceptional — 56.9% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

>+1,000%

Fast-growing sales (>+1,000% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

N/A

Data not available

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

6/8 quarters

Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

-16%

Weak — only -16% of profit becomes cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

-13.6%

Burning cash (-13.6%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

N/A

Data not available

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

1937.05x

Comfortably covers interest (1937.1x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

6.6x

no trend

Attractive valuation — P/E 6.6

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.

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