Share count
107Mpeak FY2025
← All companies ← APTV Manual AR → ← ANIP Pharmaceuticals ARCT →
AQST, Aquestive Therapeutics Inc.
Aquestive is a pharmaceutical company advancing medicines to bring meaningful improvement to patients' lives through innovative science and delivery technologies.
We are developing pharmaceutical products to deliver complex molecules through administrations that are alternatives to invasive and inconvenient standard of care therapies.
We are advancing our late stage non-device based epinephrine prodrug product candidate for the treatment of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, under the "Anaphylm " trade name, and our AdrenaVerse epinephrine prodrug pipeline platform.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
Revenue · FY2025
$45M
−22.6% YoY · −1% 5-yr CAGR
Vital signs · TTM
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- Situation
- Unprofitable. No meaningful revenue yet; the record is the cash on hand against the burn. Distress / turnaround. Thin interest coverage, or operating cash burned against real debt, across the record. The balance sheet carries this situation; the debt schedule sets the clock.
- What moves the needle
- Operating margin has run around −73% through the cycle on a 59% gross margin, the operating line in the red even at its best — so the lever is whether the spending below the gross line can come down enough to clear a profit: revenue growth against the cost curve, and the cash runway until it does. The cash cycle has run negative through the cycle (a median of −40 days): the operation is paid before it pays, so working capital releases cash as the business grows rather than tying it up. Read this kind of business on the pipeline against the patent cliff, and pricing. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on pricing power & competition, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.
Where the money comes from
read the 10-K →34% of revenue comes from outside the United States.
Revenue by geography, FY2025
- United States66%$30M
- International34%$15M
From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
The record
Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.
The record, 2017–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| $67M | $67M | $53M | $46M | $51M | $48M | $51M | $58M | $45M | $50M | RevenueRevenue |
| — | — | 61% | 72% | — | 59% | 59% | 69% | 58% | 63% | Gross marginGross mgn |
| 37% | 107% | 122% | 122% | 105% | 111% | 63% | 87% | 179% | 143% | SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev |
| 33% | 34% | 39% | 43% | 34% | 37% | 26% | 35% | 39% | 32% | R&D / revenueR&D/rev |
| ($113K) | ($49M) | ($53M) | ($43M) | ($35M) | ($42M) | ($15M) | ($31M) | ($71M) | ($56M) | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| −0.2% | −72.6% | −100.1% | −93.6% | −68.2% | −88.2% | −29.9% | −53.5% | −159.5% | −111.2% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| ($9M) | ($61M) | ($66M) | ($56M) | ($71M) | ($54M) | ($8M) | ($44M) | ($84M) | ($69M) | Net incomeNet inc. |
| Cash flow & returns | ||||||||||
| $6M | ($13M) | ($60M) | ($45M) | ($33M) | ($10M) | ($6M) | ($36M) | ($52M) | ($44M) | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| $4M | $3M | $3M | $3M | $3M | $2M | $1M | $718K | $548K | $522K | DepreciationDeprec. |
| $11M | $15M | ($4M) | $300K | $28M | $38M | ($3M) | $561K | $23M | $16M | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| $2M | $2M | $663K | $517K | $913K | $1M | $995K | $159K | $562K | $479K | CapexCapex |
| 3.1% | 2.7% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 1.0% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| $4M | ($15M) | ($61M) | ($46M) | ($34M) | ($11M) | ($7M) | ($36M) | ($53M) | ($44M) | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| 5.6% | −22.0% | −115.7% | −100.3% | −66.7% | −22.7% | −14.6% | −62.4% | −119.0% | −88.2% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| $4M | ($15M) | ($61M) | ($46M) | ($34M) | ($11M) | ($7M) | ($36M) | ($53M) | ($44M) | Free cash flowFCF |
| 5.6% | −22.0% | −115.7% | −100.3% | −66.7% | −22.7% | −14.6% | −62.4% | −119.0% | −88.2% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| $17M | $61M | $49M | $32M | $28M | $27M | $24M | $72M | $121M | $111M | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| $6M | $6M | — | — | — | — | $8M | $7M | $18M | $7M | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| $4M | $5M | $3M | $2M | $4M | $6M | $7M | $6M | $6M | $8M | InventoryInvent. |
| $10M | $20M | $12M | $7M | $8M | $10M | $9M | $10M | $30M | $12M | Accounts payablePayables |
| $592K | ($9M) | ($9M) | ($5M) | ($4M) | ($4M) | $6M | $3M | ($6M) | $3M | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| $28M | $74M | $68M | $45M | $47M | $40M | $41M | $88M | $149M | $130M | Current assetsCur. assets |
| $15M | $33M | $19M | $21M | $22M | $40M | $18M | $19M | $48M | $32M | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| 1.8× | 2.3× | 3.7× | 2.1× | 2.2× | 1.0× | 2.2× | 4.7× | 3.1× | 4.1× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| $43M | $87M | $78M | $63M | $62M | $57M | $57M | $101M | $160M | $141M | Total assetsAssets |
| — | — | $70M | $52M | — | $33M | $45M | $45M | $45M | $45M | Total debtDebt |
| — | — | $21M | $20M | — | $6M | $21M | ($27M) | ($76M) | ($66M) | Net debt / (cash)Net debt |
| -0.0× | -6.3× | -5.7× | -3.9× | -3.5× | -6.4× | -2.4× | -2.8× | -6.4× | -5.0× | Interest coverageInt. cov. |
| ($26M) | $10M | ($6M) | ($48M) | ($82M) | ($119M) | ($106M) | ($60M) | ($34M) | ($34M) | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| 0.0% | 44.4% | 13.4% | 14.4% | 13.4% | 9.2% | 5.3% | 12.3% | 17.1% | 16.6% | Stock comp / revenueSBC/rev |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| — | 20.7M | 25.4M | 33.7M | 38.1M | 48.7M | 61.3M | 86.7M | 107M | 123M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| — | $3.25 | $2.07 | $1.36 | $1.33 | $0.98 | $0.83 | $0.66 | $0.42 | $0.41 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| — | $-2.96 | $-2.61 | $-1.66 | $-1.85 | $-1.12 | $-0.13 | $-0.51 | $-0.78 | $-0.56 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| — | $-0.71 | $-2.40 | $-1.37 | $-0.89 | $-0.22 | $-0.12 | $-0.41 | $-0.50 | $-0.36 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| — | $-0.71 | $-2.40 | $-1.37 | $-0.89 | $-0.22 | $-0.12 | $-0.41 | $-0.50 | $-0.36 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| — | $0.09 | $0.03 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.00 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| — | $0.49 | $-0.24 | $-1.44 | $-2.16 | $-2.43 | $-1.74 | $-0.69 | $-0.31 | $-0.28 | Book value / shareBVPS |
The diluted share count moved ×1.42 into 2024 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
Per-share growththe realized rate an owner's share compounded
| 8-yr | 5-yr | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / share | −25.4%/yr (7-yr) | −21.1%/yr |
| Capital spending / share | −33.1%/yr (7-yr) | −19.3%/yr |
The year, in the company's words
the filing →Verbatim from the 10-K's management discussion. Each sentence is shown only because its subject, direction, and stated figures check out against the filed numbers on this page. The words are the company's; the arithmetic is the record's.
- Manufacture and supply revenue+0.6%
“Manufacture and supply revenue increased 1% or $249 for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This increase was primarily due to a $3,795 increase in Ondif revenues, partially offset by a $3,482 decrease in Suboxone revenues.”
✓ figure matches the filed record - License and royalty revenue-77.1%
“License and royalty revenue decreased 77% or $11,826 for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This decrease was primarily due to the one-time recognition of deferred revenues of $11,544 due to the termination of licensing and supply agreements in the prior year.”
✓ figure matches the filed record - Proprietary Product Revenue-251.7%
“Proprietary product revenue, net decreased by $793 for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This decrease was primarily due to the change in the estimated returns allowance provision due to the withdrawal of Libervant from the market as U.S. market access ended in April 2025.”
✓ direction matches the filed record
The record, charted
FY2017–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked.
Gross margin
58%low FY2025
Owner earnings vs. net income
Owner earningsNet incomeThe accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.
($53M)owner earningsvs.($84M)net incomelow FY2019
Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.
In fiscal 2025 the business turned a $84M loss into ($53M) of owner earnings: more cash than the profit line showed, after the non-cash charges and the capital it put back in.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | ($84M) | ($44M) | ($8M) | ($54M) | ($71M) |
| Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back | +$548K | +$718K | +$1M | +$2M | +$3M |
| Stock-based compensationreal costnon-cash, but a real cost | +$8M | +$7M | +$3M | +$4M | +$7M |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | +$23M | +$561K | −$3M | +$38M | +$28M |
| Cash from operations | ($52M) | ($36M) | ($6M) | ($10M) | ($33M) |
| Capital expenditurecash put back in to keep running and to grow | −$562K | −$159K | −$995K | −$1M | −$913K |
| Owner earnings | ($53M) | ($36M) | ($7M) | ($11M) | ($34M) |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | -119% | -62% | -15% | -23% | -67% |
Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the capital it must spend to hold its position . The cash-flow statement also adds stock comp back as non-cash, but it is a real cost paid in shares; counted as the expense it is (less $8M), owner earnings is nearer ($61M).
Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
FY2025 10-K · source on SEC EDGAR →
Will it survive?
- Can it pay its interest? -6.4×Does not cover its interestOperating income ($71M) ÷ interest expense $11M
What this means
A full year of operating profit didn't cover the interest bill. This is the zombie zone: the business depends on refinancing, asset sales, or forbearance to service its debt.
- Net cashCash $121M − debt $45M
What this means
Cash and short-term investments exceed every dollar of debt by $76M, on net the company owes nothing, and can act from strength when others can't. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
- Negative, funded by othersDSO 146 + DIO 121 − DPO 587 days
What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. A negative cycle is a quiet moat: suppliers and customers fund the operation (Buffett's “float”), the company grows on other people's money.
Is it a good business?
- Not meaningful hereInvested capital ($110M) = debt $45M + equity ($34M) − cashIndustry peers: median -46%
What this means
Invested capital is near zero or negative, usually years of buybacks pulling equity down. ROIC explodes or flips sign and stops meaning anything. Judge this one on Owner Earnings instead.
- Consumes cash through the cycle9-yr median margin, range -119%–6%; latest ($53M) = operating cash ($52M) − maintenance capex $562KIndustry peers: median -512%
What this means
What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's -119% of revenue this year, a -62% median across 9 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $8M of SBC) leaves ($61M).
- Are earnings backed by cash? ($52M)Loss, and burning cashNet income ($84M) · cash from operations ($52M)
What this means
The company reported a net loss, so a conversion ratio isn't meaningful. What matters then is whether operations still threw off cash, here, they did not.
How is the cash used?
- Not enough data
What this means
The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.
- Investing or harvesting? 1.03×MaintainingCapex $562K ÷ depreciation $548K
What this means
Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.
Graham’s defensive tests · 2 of 5 met
Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.
- Adequate size MissRevenue ≥ $2B · $45M
What this means
Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.
- Strong liquidity PassCurrent ratio ≥ 2× · 3.14×
What this means
Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.
- Conservative debt PassDebt ≤ working capital · $45M vs $102M WC
What this means
Graham's rule that borrowings not exceed net current assets. Capital-heavy and buyback-heavy firms routinely fail it, read it next to interest coverage, not alone.
- Earnings stability MissA profit every year (9-yr record) · 9 loss years
What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
- Dividend record MissUninterrupted dividends · none paid
What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
- Earnings growth —Earnings +33% over the record · —
What this means
Earnings were negative early in the record, a growth rate isn't meaningful.
- Moderate price —P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
What this means
Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $-0.36/share (latest year $-0.67), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $-0.27/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.
Durability & moat, 2017–2025
Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.
- Profitable years 0 of 9
What this means
Lost money in 9 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
- Operating margin −58% → −81% (3-yr avg ends)
In the filing’s words The filing attributes gains to higher prices, but the margin in the record has not followed — the claim outruns the result here.
What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin slipped — about −58% early to −81% lately, median −73% — competition or costs are biting in.
- Reinvestment, incremental ROIC returns capital
What this means
The capital base barely grew: this business returns cash through dividends and buybacks rather than reinvesting. Judge it on the cash returned, not on compounding.
- Worst year 2025 · −159.5% op. margin
What this means
Operations went underwater in 2025, understand why before trusting the good years.
Does AI threaten the moat?
Low contestabilityThe moat is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded, the kind AI cuts costs within but does not contest.
In its own filing A competitive risk, new this year
Its FY2025 10-K names artificial intelligence as a competitive threat, in language that was not in the prior year's filing.
“If we do not effectively develop, adopt, and govern AI technologies, we may be less competitive and our operating results could suffer.”
AI is unlikely to contest a moat that is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded; here it reads more as a cost tool than a threat.
Read from the filing's own risk factors, paired with the industry's structure under its SIC code; the durability is read above, the price below.
All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.
Current Position
as of the latest quarter, Mar 31, 2026Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.
Current assets$130M
- Cash & short-term investments$111M
- Receivables$7M
- Inventory$8M
- Other current assets$5M
Current liabilities$32M
- Accounts payable$12M
- Other current liabilities$20M
Current ratio4.10×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio3.85×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio3.49×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital$98Mthe cushion left after near-term bills
Cash runway2.5 yrsthe business is consuming cash; this is how long the cash on hand lasts at that rate
Revenue, latest quarter vs. a year ago+65.7%the freshest read on whether the business is still growing
Current ratio, recent quarters7.5× → 4.1×
Deeper floors
Tangible book value($34M)equity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value($45M)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leases$50M$5M of it operating leases
Deferred revenue$20Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float
From the company's latest filing.
Management, ownership & pay
read the proxy →From the proxy: how much of the business the people running it own, and how they are paid, beside what the business earned for its owners in the same years.
| Fiscal year | Chief executive | Pay, as filed | “Actually paid” | Owner earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Daniel Barber | $2.5M | $3.3M | ($7M) |
| 2024 | Daniel Barber | $4.2M | $5.2M | ($36M) |
| 2025 | Daniel Barber | $3.5M | $11.0M | ($53M) |
Both pay figures are the company’s own, from the pay-versus-performance table its proxy statement files. “As filed” is the Summary Compensation Table total: salary, bonus, and equity awards at their value on the day of grant. “Actually paid” is the SEC’s prescribed recalculation, which re-marks those equity awards to what they became as they vested; it can swing far above or below the filed figure in either direction, and negative years occur. Owner earnings are the whole business's, from the record above, for the same fiscal years.
- Insider ownership6.8%
The stake all directors and executive officers hold together, per the 2026 proxy: skin in the game, the first thing Munger reads.
- Stock-based compensation$8M
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 17% of revenue. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. One trap: the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.
Inverting the record
Invert: instead of why Aquestive Therapeutics Inc. is a good business, the question is what would make owning it a mistake, and whether those marks are in the record. Disconfirming tests across 2017–2025.
2 of the 3 tests turned up something to look into; the other 1 came back clean.
- Look hereIs it less profitable than it was?−65.3% vs −44.0%
The business ran at a loss early in the record (an owner-earnings margin of −44.0%) and the loss has widened to −65.3% across the last three years, with the latest year at −119.0%. Ask the filing where the widening sits — price, cost, or spending growing faster than revenue — and what would narrow it.
- Look hereDid receivables and inventory outpace sales?15% → 30% of sales
Receivables and inventory grew from $10M to $15M while revenue grew −25%: working capital is climbing faster than sales (15% of revenue then, 30% now). That can mean customers paying slower, stock building up, or revenue pulled forward. The filing's cash-flow and receivables notes say which.
And these came back clean
- Are "one-time" charges a yearly habit?
Each test is read from the filings and is noisy alone; a flag can mark a cyclical trough or a year of heavy investment as easily as a problem. The filing says which.
Peers, Pharmaceuticals
The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each figure is a through-cycle median, so a peak or trough year can’t distort it; the group median at the foot is the line to read each against.
| Company | Revenue | Gross margin | Op. margin | ROIC | Owner earn. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKTRNektar Therapeutics | $55M | 82% | -265.8% | -46% | -212% |
| AGIOAgios Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $54M | 94% | -809.9% | -44% | -686% |
| LXRXLexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $50M | 91% | -388.5% | -63% | -611% |
| PTGXProtagonist Therapeutics Inc. | $46M | — | -225.4% | -56% | -163% |
| SEPNSepterna Inc. | $46M | — | -148.6% | -21% | -6407% |
| AQSTAquestive Therapeutics Inc. | $45M | 60% | -72.6% | — | -62% |
| PVLAPalvella Therapeutics Inc. | $43M | — | -124.9% | — | -77% |
| WVEWave Life Sciences Ltd. | $43M | — | -935.3% | — | -512% |
| Group median | — | 86% | -245.6% | — | -362% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFAquestive Therapeutics Inc. is profitable, but owner earnings are negative this year because capital spending currently outruns operating cash, a build-out, so the owner-earnings reverse-DCF has no positive base to grow. We read the price from both ends instead: type a price to see the steady-state profitability it demands, then set the mature margin you would believe and weigh the two against each other. Nothing leaves your browser unless you enter it in your notebook.
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The assumptions
Revenue, delivered1%/yr’20→’25
Enter a price to run it.
Owner earnings it must reach—
Margin the price demands—
Owner-earnings margin today−88%
A dated snapshot of the price you typed, the assumptions you set, and what the page showed for them. A snapshot is never edited after it is saved. Your notebook is yours alone — the commitment states what is stored and what we will never do.
Two reads of one future. From your price: the owner earnings the company must reach, valued at a mature multiple and discounted back at your rate, expressed as the margin it implies on revenue grown at your rate. From your belief: the mature margin you would credit, set on the dial above. When the margin the price demands runs above the one you would believe, you are paying for a future taken on faith. For a deep cyclical at a trough, normalized through-cycle earnings are the better lens; this mode is for the genuinely unprofitable, and for the profitable business whose capital spending currently outruns its cash.
Cite: Owner Scorecard, "Aquestive Therapeutics Inc. (AQST), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/AQST, data as of 2026-07-09.
Manual order: ← APTV its page in the Manual AR →
Industry order: ← ANIP the Pharmaceuticals chapter ARCT →