Beam Therapeutics Inc., founded in 2017 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, operates as a pioneering biopharmaceutical firm. Its core mission involves engineering ...
Beam Therapeutics Inc., founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company leveraging a proprietary base editing technology to develop precise genetic medicines for a range of serious diseases. The company was co-founded by gene editing pioneers David R. Liu, J. Keith Joung, and Feng Zhang, ...Beam Therapeutics Inc., founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company leveraging a proprietary base editing technology to develop precise genetic medicines for a range of serious diseases. The company was co-founded by gene editing pioneers David R. Liu, J. Keith Joung, and Feng Zhang, who discovered base editing, a technology that enables single-letter changes in DNA without double-strand breaks. Led by CEO John Evans, who joined in 2017, the company went public in February 2020. Beam's pipeline includes several key candidates: BEAM-101 for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, BEAM-102 for sickle cell disease, BEAM-201 an allogeneic CAR-T therapy for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and BEAM-301 for Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia. Additionally, the company is developing therapies for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, ocular diseases, and disorders of the liver, muscle, and central nervous system. Beam's business model focuses on in-house research and development, strategic collaborations, and licensing agreements with partners such as Pfizer, Apellis, Sana Biotechnology, and Verve Therapeutics. Financially, Beam has shown a strong balance sheet with a current ratio of 14.57 and significant cash reserves (cash per share of $11.05 as of TTM), but it is not yet profitable, with negative operating margins and heavy investment in R&D (R&D to revenue ratio of 2.619). The company employs approximately 511 full-time staff, reflecting its growth from 341 in 2021. With a market cap of around $2.8 billion and a beta of 2.18, Beam is a high-risk, high-reward biotech stock. The company's vision is to provide lifelong cures, and its values-driven culture emphasizes cutting-edge science and patient impact.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$139.7M
+120.0%
-98.5%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$-80.0M
+78.8%
-30.1%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+84.0%
+117.6%
+53.5%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
-274.6%
+58.0%
-7545.4%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
-57.2%
+90.3%
-8324.7%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$-360.0M
-1.1%
+47.6%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
-257.7%
+54.1%
-3294.0%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
23.7%
+7.8%
+7.6%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
13.09x
+171.4%
-14.2%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Beam Therapeutics Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that this call is being recorded at Beam's request. I would now like to turn the call over to Holly Manning, Vice President of Investor Relations and External Communications. Please go ahead.
Holly Manning: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Beam's Conference Call to review updates announced this morning in conjunction with our fourth quarter and year-end 2025 financial results. You can access slides for today's call by going to the Investors section of our website, beamtx.com. With me on the call today, with prepared remarks are John Evans, our Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Amy Simon, our Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Gopi Shanker, our Chief Scientific Officer; Sravan Emany, our Chief Financial Officer; and Dr. Kiran Musunuru from the University of Pennsylvania. Our President, Dr. Guiseppe Pino Ciaramella, will join for Q&A. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements we make on this call will include forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements as a result of various risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any other filings that we may make with the SEC. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. Except as required by law, Beam specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements even if our views change. With that, I'll turn the call over to John.
John Evans: Thanks, Holly, and good morning, everyone. At Beam, our vision is straightforward, but ambitious: to provide lifelong cures for patients suffering from serious diseases. We believe base editing has the potential to deliver on that vision through onetime durable genetic medicines with predictable and reproducible outcomes. Today, we're excited to share several important updates that bring us closer to accomplishing this mission. First, leveraging our platform to bring forward a new and innovative development program to address a serious genetic disease, phenylketonuria, or PKU, and second, further solidifying our balance sheet to support the anticipated commercialization of a potentially transformative onetime base editing therapy for sickle cell disease. Beam was founded on a simple concept: aimed at rewriting broken genes back to normal. Base editing is a next-generation form of CRISPR that allows us to make precise single base changes, resulting in predictable edits without the need to make double-stranded breaks in DNA. With consistent gene sequence …
