We feel now is a pretty good time to analyse Atossa Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ATOS) business as it appears the company may be on the cusp of a considerable accomplishment. Atossa Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need in oncology in the United States. The company’s loss has recently broadened since it announced a US$35m loss in the full financial year, compared to the latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$38m, moving it further away from breakeven. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Atossa Therapeutics will turn a profit, with the big question being “when will the company breakeven?” In this article, we will touch on the expectations for the company's growth and when analysts expect it to become profitable.

Consensus from 3 of the American Biotechs analysts is that Atossa Therapeutics is on the verge of breakeven. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2027, before generating positive profits of US$48m in 2028. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven roughly 2 years from now. In order to meet this breakeven date, we calculated the rate at which the company must grow year-on-year. It turns out an average annual growth rate of 58% 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.

We're not going to go through company-specific developments for Atossa Therapeutics given that this is a high-level summary, though, bear in mind that by and large biotechs, depending on the stage of product development, have irregular periods of cash flow. This means, large upcoming growth rates are not abnormal as the company is beginning to reap the benefits of earlier investments.

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

There are key fundamentals of Atossa Therapeutics which are not covered in this article, but we must stress again that this is merely a basic overview. For a more comprehensive look at Atossa Therapeutics, take a look at Atossa Therapeutics' company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of key factors you should further examine:

1. Historical Track Record: What has Atossa 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 Atossa 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.

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.