Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.32 EPS

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.32, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $0.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.00 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a net margin of 121.17% and a return on equity of 110.79%.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of ABUS stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.92. 466,367 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,925,169. Arbutus Biopharma has a twelve month low of $3.50 and a twelve month high of $5.45. The firm has a market cap of $775.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.48.

Arbutus Biopharma declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, August 21st that permits the company to repurchase shares. This buyback authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Arbutus Biopharma from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.00.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Its research programs include RNA interference (RNAi) therapies, immune-based treatments and capsid assembly inhibitors, which target different aspects of the virus and the body’s response to infection. The company’s investigational portfolio includes imdusiran, an RNAi therapeutic designed to reduce hepatitis B surface antigen, as well as other HBV drug candidates at various stages of development.