Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) posted its earnings results on Monday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Arbutus Biopharma had a negative return on equity of 50.26% and a negative net margin of 289.79%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.83 million.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of ABUS stock opened at $4.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $815.44 million, a PE ratio of -18.43 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.43. Arbutus Biopharma has a 52-week low of $2.70 and a 52-week high of $5.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,702,776 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $128,440,000 after buying an additional 2,252,164 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 10,991,261 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $49,900,000 after buying an additional 547,944 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,908,211 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,418,000 after buying an additional 1,809,893 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,415,109 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,047,000 after buying an additional 2,511,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,677,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,691,000 after buying an additional 11,145 shares in the last quarter. 43.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.00.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and advancing a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The company’s pipeline features both direct-acting antivirals and host-targeting therapies designed to reduce viral load and restore immune function. Lead programs include an RNA interference (RNAi) candidate aimed at silencing viral gene expression and next-generation capsid assembly modulators that seek to inhibit viral replication at its core.

In addition to its antiviral portfolio, Arbutus leverages proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology to optimize the distribution and cellular uptake of nucleic acid therapeutics.