Can This AI Stock Bounce Back in 2026?

By Prosper Junior Bakiny – Mar 8, 2026 at 11:55AM ESTKey PointsRecursion Pharmaceuticals is looking to use AI to speed up R&D in the biotech industry.The company has yet to show the value of its approach and faces significant uncertainty. Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage on Wall Street these days, but not every AI stock is equally successful. Some of the bigger names in the field, like Nvidia, have seen their shares soar in recent years, while other, smaller ones, like Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX 2.40%), continue to struggle. Recursion, a healthcare-focused AI company, could have some catalysts in the next 12 to 18 months, however. Can the stock bounce back this year? Image source: Getty Images.

What Recursion Pharmaceuticals does Recursion Pharmaceuticals is helping pioneer the use of AI in drug discovery. The company's operating system tests clinical compounds and helps predict which ones are most likely to make it through the grueling clinical and regulatory hoops required before approval.

While Recursion Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2013, more pharmaceutical leaders have been using AI to aid their processes in recent years. And last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was phasing out animal testing in favor of newer methods, including AI-based models. So, Recursion Pharmaceuticals was arguably ahead of the curve. However, the biotech has had little meaningful success. It currently has no approved products and no investigational medicines in late-stage studies. That could change in the next year or so. Recursion Pharmaceuticals plans to release data from ongoing early-stage clinical trials for various pipeline candidates. Now, since these are phase 1 studies (for the most part), which focus on safety and tolerability rather than efficacy, they are unlikely to significantly jolt the stock. So, even if Recursion Pharmaceuticals records decent clinical progress this year, it might not perform well on the stock market. ExpandNASDAQ: RXRXRecursion PharmaceuticalsToday's Change(-2.40%) $-0.09Current Price$3.46Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.8BDay's Range$3.39 - $3.5252wk Range$2.98 - $7.18Volume358KAvg Vol22MGross Margin-6195.95% Is the stock a buy? Recursion Pharmaceuticals hoped that its use of AI would give it an edge over its peers, enabling it to develop and market medicines faster than competitors. Not only has the company not yet succeeded in launching a single medicine, but its competitive advantage is now evaporating as more of its peers are doing the same. That means we should evaluate Recursion Pharmaceuticals as we would any other biotech company. And once we do, the drugmaker looks risky. True, some of its candidates look promising, including REC-617, a potential cancer medicine with a novel, differentiated mechanism of action. It could improve standards of care across several forms of cancer, including breast, colorectal, and lung, three of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. It's also worth noting that Recursion Pharmaceuticals has entered into partnerships with several pharmaceutical giants, including Roche and Sanofi. It is seeking to develop medicines in collaboration with these companies. Translation: Recursion Pharmaceuticals can access funding more easily than it otherwise would, thanks to these deals. Even with these strengths, the company still faces significant clinical and regulatory hurdles to obtain approval for a single product, and if it fails, its shares will sink further. That's why risk-averse investors should stay a safe distance away from Recursion Pharmaceuticals.Read NextFeb 7, 2026 •By James BrumleyThis $4 Stock Could Be Your Ticket to Millionaire StatusJan 28, 2026 •By Prosper Junior BakinyCan This Beaten-Down AI Stock Bounce Back in 2026?Jan 1, 2026 •By Prosper Junior BakinyForget Recursion Pharmaceuticals Stock. This Is a Much Better Buy.Dec 17, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Recursion Pharmaceuticals Stock Vaulted 11% Higher on WednesdayDec 8, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Recursion Pharamaceuticals Topped the Market TodayNov 24, 2025 •By Prosper Junior BakinyCould Recursion Pharmaceuticals Be the Next Big Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock?About the AuthorProsper Junior Bakiny is a contributing Motley Fool healthcare analyst covering biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare stocks.

Before The Motley Fool, Prosper wrote about investing topics ranging from stock market news to private equity for various companies. He holds a master’s degree in corporate finance from the University of Maryland Global Campus.TMFPBakinyStocks MentionedRecursion PharmaceuticalsNASDAQ: RXRX$3.46(-2.40%)-$0.09*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.