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PLX, Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (DE)
We are a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, production and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for rare diseases with significant unmet needs.
ProCellEx , our unique, proprietary plant cell-based protein expression system represents a new method for developing recombinant proteins in an industrial-scale manner.
To execute on our strategy, we are turning our focus to new, early-stage product candidates that treat indications for which there are high unmet needs in terms of efficacy and safety, including renal diseases.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- What moves the needle
- Operating margin has reached 16% at its best but run negative through the cycle (median −27%) on a 57% gross margin — so the question is which reading is truer: whether the median was pulled below zero by one-off charges, by the cycle, or by spending it is still growing into, and whether it settles back at a profit. The cash cycle has run negative through the cycle (a median of −6 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.
- Is it a good business?
- Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median −1%, above 15% in 1 of 4 years). Owner earnings, the cash-based check, have been thin too. This is price-taker territory, where the balance sheet and the cycle matter more than any multiple; the rest is in the 10-K.
Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.
The record
Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.
The record, 2016–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2016’16 | 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | |||||||||||
| $9M | $21M | $34M | $55M | $63M | $38M | $48M | $65M | $53M | $53M | $76M | RevenueRevenue |
| 9% | 28% | 73% | 80% | 83% | 57% | 59% | 65% | 54% | 49% | 70% | Gross marginGross mgn |
| 102% | 55% | 32% | 18% | 18% | 33% | 25% | 23% | 23% | 22% | 16% | SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev |
| 331% | 153% | 97% | 82% | 61% | 78% | 62% | 26% | 24% | 37% | 28% | R&D / revenueR&D/rev |
| ($33M) | ($35M) | ($19M) | ($11M) | $3M | ($20M) | ($13M) | $10M | $4M | ($6M) | $20M | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| −360.5% | −163.8% | −56.4% | −19.6% | 4.3% | −53.4% | −27.3% | 16.0% | 7.3% | −10.4% | 25.9% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| ($29M) | ($83M) | ($26M) | ($18M) | ($7M) | ($28M) | ($15M) | $8M | $3M | ($7M) | $15M | Net incomeNet inc. |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3% | 29% | — | 20% | Effective tax rateTax rate |
| Cash flow & returns | |||||||||||
| ($32M) | ($10M) | ($8M) | ($19M) | ($26M) | ($10M) | ($25M) | ($1M) | $9M | ($12M) | $15M | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| $2M | $2M | $2M | $2M | $1M | $1M | $1M | $1M | $1M | $1M | $2M | DepreciationDeprec. |
| ($6M) | $71M | $17M | ($4M) | ($24M) | $14M | ($13M) | ($14M) | $1M | ($9M) | ($4M) | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| $849K | $971K | $686K | $627K | $655K | $1M | $628K | $1M | $1M | $2M | $2M | CapexCapex |
| 9.2% | 4.6% | 2.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 3.8% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 2.4% | 3.1% | 2.7% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| ($33M) | ($11M) | ($8M) | ($20M) | ($27M) | ($11M) | ($26M) | ($2M) | $7M | ($14M) | $14M | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| −358.2% | −52.0% | −24.6% | −36.5% | −42.5% | −29.7% | −53.8% | −3.8% | 13.8% | −25.8% | 17.8% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| ($33M) | ($11M) | ($8M) | ($20M) | ($27M) | ($12M) | ($26M) | ($2M) | $7M | ($14M) | $13M | Free cash flowFCF |
| −358.2% | −52.0% | −24.6% | −36.5% | −42.5% | −30.6% | −53.8% | −3.8% | 13.8% | −25.8% | 17.0% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | -2358% | 102% | 12% | -13% | 34% | ROICROIC |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25% | 7% | -14% | 23% | Return on equityROE |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25% | 7% | −14% | 23% | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| Balance sheet | |||||||||||
| $63M | $51M | $38M | $18M | $18M | $39M | $17M | $24M | $20M | $15M | $41M | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| $693K | $2M | $5M | $5M | $2M | $3M | $5M | $5M | $3M | $9M | $3M | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| $5M | $8M | $9M | $8M | $13M | $18M | $17M | $19M | $21M | $26M | $30M | InventoryInvent. |
| $7M | $9M | $10M | $12M | $14M | $16M | $12M | $20M | $5M | $5M | $4M | Accounts payablePayables |
| ($2M) | $244K | $3M | $950K | $1M | $5M | $9M | $5M | $20M | $29M | $29M | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| $72M | $63M | $53M | $32M | $56M | $62M | $45M | $70M | $60M | $67M | $86M | Current assetsCur. assets |
| $66M | $23M | $25M | $40M | $86M | $33M | $32M | $46M | $26M | $27M | $27M | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| 1.1× | 2.8× | 2.1× | 0.8× | 0.6× | 1.9× | 1.4× | 1.5× | 2.3× | 2.5× | 3.2× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| $82M | $72M | $61M | $45M | $68M | $74M | $56M | $84M | $73M | $82M | $102M | Total assetsAssets |
| $19M | $46M | $48M | $51M | — | $28M | $28M | — | — | — | $20M | Total debtDebt |
| ($44M) | ($5M) | $10M | $33M | — | ($11M) | $11M | — | — | — | ($21M) | Net debt / (cash)Net debt |
| ($10M) | ($29M) | ($53M) | ($70M) | ($27M) | ($6M) | ($11M) | $34M | $43M | $48M | $67M | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| 10.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 5.0% | 6.2% | 4.4% | 5.3% | 6.1% | 4.4% | 3.0% | Stock comp / revenueSBC/rev |
| Per share | |||||||||||
| 203M | 26.2M | 29.4M | 29.7M | 29.1M | 44.1M | 48.5M | 82.4M | 81.1M | 78.5M | 83.0M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| $0.05 | $0.80 | $1.16 | $1.84 | $2.16 | $0.87 | $0.98 | $0.79 | $0.66 | $0.67 | $0.92 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| $-0.14 | $-3.18 | $-0.90 | $-0.62 | $-0.22 | $-0.62 | $-0.31 | $0.10 | $0.04 | $-0.08 | $0.18 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| $-0.16 | $-0.42 | $-0.29 | $-0.67 | $-0.92 | $-0.26 | $-0.53 | $-0.03 | $0.09 | $-0.17 | $0.16 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| $-0.16 | $-0.42 | $-0.29 | $-0.67 | $-0.92 | $-0.27 | $-0.53 | $-0.03 | $0.09 | $-0.17 | $0.16 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| $0.00 | $0.04 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.03 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.03 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| $-0.05 | $-1.12 | $-1.80 | $-2.37 | $-0.93 | $-0.14 | $-0.22 | $0.41 | $0.53 | $0.61 | $0.81 | Book value / shareBVPS |
The diluted share count moved ×1/7.73 into 2017 — shares retired, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
Share counts before 2020 are restated ×2 for a stock split, so per-share figures sit on one basis.
The diluted share count moved ×1.51 into 2021 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1.7 into 2023 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
| 9-yr | 5-yr | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / share | +34.9%/yr | −20.8%/yr |
| Capital spending / share | +19.5%/yr | −1.5%/yr |
The record, charted
FY2016–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked. Share counts on the current split basis.
Owner earnings vs. net income
Owner earningsNet incomeThe accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.
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 reported a $7M loss but ($14M) of owner earnings: $7M less than the profit line, taken out by capital spending and the timing of cash.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | ($7M) | $3M | $8M | ($15M) | ($28M) |
| Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back | +$1M | +$1M | +$1M | +$1M | +$1M |
| Stock-based compensationreal costnon-cash, but a real cost | +$2M | +$3M | +$3M | +$2M | +$2M |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | −$9M | +$1M | −$14M | −$13M | +$14M |
| Cash from operations | ($12M) | $9M | ($1M) | ($25M) | ($10M) |
| Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume | −$2M | −$1M | −$1M | −$628K | −$1M |
| Owner earnings | ($14M) | $7M | ($2M) | ($26M) | ($11M) |
| Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still | — | — | — | — | −$341K |
| Free cash flow | ($14M) | $7M | ($2M) | ($26M) | ($12M) |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | -26% | 14% | -4% | -54% | -30% |
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 $2M), owner earnings is nearer ($16M).
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
Will it survive?
- Can it pay its interest? -1.5×Does not cover its interestOperating income ($6M) ÷ interest expense $4M
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 debt against an operating lossCash $15M − debt $28M
What this means
Netting $15M of cash and short-term investments against $28M of debt leaves $14M owed, with no operating profit this year to measure it against — understand that combination before anything else about the company. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
- Long (60+ days)DSO 61 + DIO 348 − DPO 71 days
What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Lower is better; a long cycle means growth itself eats cash.
Is it a good business?
- Below average through the cycle4-yr median, range -2358%–102%; -7% latest = NOPAT ($4M) ÷ invested capital $62MIndustry peers: median -50%
What this means
The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 4 years (it ran -7% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.
- Consumes cash through the cycle10-yr median margin, range -358%–14%; latest ($14M) = operating cash ($12M) − maintenance capex $2MIndustry peers: median -329%
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 -26% of revenue this year, a -37% median across 10 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $2M of SBC) leaves ($16M).
- Are earnings backed by cash? ($12M)Loss, and burning cashNet income ($7M) · cash from operations ($12M)
In the filing’s words Read against the cash, reported earnings have run ahead of the operating cash the business generated over the record, and a manipulation screen of eight balance-sheet ratios trips on it. For an inventory- or content-heavy grower that can be cash tied up in real assets as it expands; elsewhere it can mean the earnings lean on accounting estimates — the cash-flow statement against the income statement is where to tell which.
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? 1.12×MaintainingCapex $2M ÷ depreciation $1M
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 · $53M
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× · 2.51×
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 · $28M vs $40M 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 (10-yr record) · 8 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 $0.02/share (latest year $-0.08), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $0.60/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, 2016–2025
Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.
- Profitable years 2 of 10
What this means
Lost money in 8 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
- Operating margin −194% → 4% (3-yr avg ends)
What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about −194% early to 4% lately, median −27% — pricing power intact or improving.
- 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 2016 · −360.5% op. margin
What this means
Operations went underwater in 2016, understand why before trusting the good years.
- Share count −2.8%/yr
What this means
The share count is shrinking, buybacks are quietly growing your slice of the business.
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.
The filing positions AI as something the company uses, not something it fears.
“We have selected pharmaceutical targets with fundamental biological roles in rare renal indications, and Secarna plans to apply OligoCreator , its proprietary AI-empowered oligonucleotide discovery and development platform, to design and profile ASO candidates against those targe…”
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, and the company is using it that way.
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.
- Cash & short-term investments$41M
- Receivables$3M
- Inventory$30M
- Other current assets$12M
- Accounts payable$4M
- Other current liabilities$23M
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 | Mr. Bashan | $2.7M | $3.2M | ($2M) |
| 2024 | Mr. Bashan | $1.5M | $525k | $7M |
| 2025 | Mr. Bashan | $1.2M | $1.5M | ($14M) |
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.
- Stock-based compensation$2M
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 4% 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 Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (DE) 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 2016–2025.
None of the 3 tests turned up a mark; each came back clean. A clean panel says only that these particular ways of being wrong are not written into the record.
- Is it less profitable than it was?
- Did debt outgrow the business?
- Did receivables and inventory outpace sales?
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, Biotechnology
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGTXMeiraGTx Holdings plc | $81M | — | -438.4% | -134% | -329% |
| RXRXRecursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $75M | 5% | -867.9% | -106% | -672% |
| VIRVir Biotechnology Inc. | $69M | 99% | -791.3% | -45% | -611% |
| PLXProtalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (DE) | $53M | 58% | -23.5% | -1% | -33% |
| FENCFennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $45M | 97% | -60.1% | -28% | -28% |
| KYMRKymera Therapeutics Inc. | $39M | 0% | -344.4% | -26% | -179% |
| CCCCC4 Therapeutics Inc. | $36M | — | -336.1% | -50% | -276% |
| XFORX4 Pharmaceuticals Inc. | $35M | 84% | -1423.6% | -175% | -1972% |
| Group median | — | 71% | -391.4% | -47% | -303% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFType today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (DE) has delivered.
—
9.0% = the 4.55% 10-year Treasury (Jul 15, 2026) + 4.45 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.
Enter a price above to run it.
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.
Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.
Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.55%, as of Jul 15, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.
Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.
Free cash flow $13M on 81M shares outstanding, per the 10-Q cover, as of 2026-05-01; net cash $21M. The if-converted diluted count is 83M, 3% above the shares outstanding: the dilution overhang (convertibles, options) a buyer inherits. The base is the latest year by default; Normalize values it on the through-cycle median owner-earnings margin (to avoid paying on a peak year). Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. Capex ($2M) runs well above depreciation ($2M), so this is a build-out; Steady-state swaps total capex for maintenance (≈ depreciation), lifting the base to about $13M, the cash it would throw off if it stopped expanding. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.
Manual order: ← PLUS its page in the Manual PLXS →
Industry order: ← PLUR the Biotechnology chapter PRME →