Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. The company has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of opioid dependence, alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, bipolar I, and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Consistently Above PeersGross margin at 86.7% (top 14%) and operating margin at 17.2% (top 15%) indicate strong pricing power.
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.71), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Where ALKS ranks in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic
Alkermes plc ranks #4 of 91
scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic by moat score — the top 4%.
The widest moat in the group is Zoetis Inc. (ZTS)
at 85/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near ALKS in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 66
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 75
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 79
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 82
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 75
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Alkermes plc (ALKS) scores 76 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #4 of 91 scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic, the top 4%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 90 companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic. Its strongest defense is Resilience (82/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (66/100).
How does Alkermes plc compare with other Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic companies?
Alkermes plc ranks #4 of 91 scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic by moat score. The widest moat in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic is Zoetis Inc. (ZTS) at 85/100. The companies ranked closest are SIGA Technologies Inc. (SIGA) at 79 just above it and Prestige Consumer Healthcare In (PBH) at 76 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 90 companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Alkermes plc scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Alkermes plc?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ALKS scores: Pricing Power (80), Cost Advantage (66), Customer Stickiness (75), Capital Efficiency (79), Resilience (82), Scale & Market Position (75). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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