Tekla Life Sciences Investors

HQL

Asset Management · Financial Services

Price

$19.74

+0.01 (+0.05%)

Market Cap

$600.3M

Exchange

New York Stock Exchange

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Share count rising — dilution

+19.0% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 24.3M (2021) → 28.9M (2025)

Tekla Life Sciences Investors is a closed-end fund that pools money from individual and institutional investors and uses it to buy stocks in life sciences companies. Its portfolio focuses on businesses in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The fund is managed by Tekla Capital Management, which specializes entirely in healthcare and life science investing.

The fund makes money by collecting management fees and generating returns through dividends, interest, and capital gains from its holdings. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HQL and has a market capitalization of roughly $600 million. Because it is a closed-end fund, it issues a fixed number of shares, which means its share price can trade at a discount or premium to the actual value of its underlying holdings. The main risk is that the life sciences sector is highly sensitive to clinical trial results, drug approval decisions by the FDA, and changes in healthcare policy, all of which can cause sharp swings in portfolio value.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+164.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

EPS Growth

+231.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (7%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

9.8%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Runway

5+ years

$562M cash & investments at current burn rate

Revenue accelerating

Tekla Life Sciences Investors grew revenue 164% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

93.5%

Premium pricing power — 93.5% gross margin

Operating Margin

135.9%

Excellent — 135.9% operating margin

ROCE

11.7%

Below par — 11.7% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+44.5%

Fast-growing sales (44.5% YoY)

EPS YoY

+295.6%

Earnings growing fast (295.6% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

EPS Consistency

6/8 quarters

Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

-2%

Weak — only -2% of profit becomes cash

FCF Margin

-4.4%

Burning cash (-4.4%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

N/A

Data not available

Interest Cover

100.00x

—

Comfortably covers interest (100.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

3.1x

Attractive valuation — P/E 3.1

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

10.14%

Healthy income — 10.14% yield

Yield above 6% — often a flag the market is pricing in a cut.

Dividend Growth

+7.9%

Dividend growing modestly (7.9% YoY)

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