HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for APLS Earnings

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) – Stock analysts at HC Wainwright raised their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report released on Wednesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright analyst D. Tsao now anticipates that the company will earn ($0.62) per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($0.63). HC Wainwright has a “Buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($1.70) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.49) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.60) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($2.19) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($2.02) EPS, FY2028 earnings at ($0.89) EPS and FY2029 earnings at $0.89 EPS.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on APLS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.61.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $21.64 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $30.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.81. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 166.47 and a beta of 0.26.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $591,969.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $60,890.69. Following the sale, the insider owned 86,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

More Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright raised its long‑range outlook (FY2030 EPS to $1.97), reiterated a “Buy” and lifted its price target to $48 — a strongly bullish signal that likely supported buying interest this session. HC Wainwright raises target to $48
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its target from $45 to $44 but kept a “Buy” rating — a modestly cautious move that is unlikely to materially change conviction among bullish investors. Citigroup price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/transcript sources for the Feb. 24 Q4 call are circulating (full transcript available) — the call contains detail investors will parse for guidance and product trends; headlines are mixed across outlets. Earnings call transcript (Yahoo) Earnings call transcript (InsiderMonkey)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data released shows “0 shares” and NaN changes — this is almost certainly a reporting or processing error and should not be treated as a genuine change in borrow/short pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada cut its target to $21 and moved to “Sector Perform,” which signals lower near‑term expectations and adds selling pressure for more cautious holders. RBC target cut Coverage note
• Negative Sentiment: Wedbush lowered its target to $18 and moved to “Neutral,” another sign of reduced analyst conviction that could weigh on the stock if follow‑through selling occurs. Wedbush target cut Coverage note
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks flagged a wider‑than‑expected Q4 loss and an 8% slip in Syfovre sales (though total revenue beat estimates and Empaveli grew on a new indication) — mixed results that may keep some investors cautious until product trends clarify. Zacks earnings summary

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.