AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL) Trading Up 9.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares rose 9.2% to $3.745 on Tuesday, but trading was lighter-than-average with ~713,796 shares vs a 2.9M average.
• Analysts' consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $7.75; ratings are split (3 Buy / 3 Hold / 1 Sell) and the stock has seen recent downgrades from Leerink and Wall Street Zen.
• Fundamentals remain weak: market cap ~$1.11B, last quarter EPS of -$0.19 (missed) with a consensus FY EPS forecast of -0.59, despite a slight revenue beat and high negative margins.

AbCellera Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABCL - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 9.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.73 and last traded at $3.7450. Approximately 713,796 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,906,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs lowered AbCellera Biologics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AbCellera Biologics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbCellera Biologics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of AbCellera Biologics in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbCellera Biologics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.75.

AbCellera Biologics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.36.

AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 million. AbCellera Biologics had a negative return on equity of 17.21% and a negative net margin of 493.42%. On average, analysts forecast that AbCellera Biologics Inc. will post -0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbCellera Biologics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in AbCellera Biologics by 248.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 15,671,063 shares of the company's stock worth $34,946,000 after purchasing an additional 11,171,063 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AbCellera Biologics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,164,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbCellera Biologics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,000. State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new position in shares of AbCellera Biologics in the second quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of AbCellera Biologics by 46.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 70,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 22,155 shares in the last quarter. 61.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbCellera Biologics Company Profile

AbCellera Biologics Inc NASDAQ: ABCL is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies. The company's technology platform integrates single-cell screening, microfluidics, high-throughput sequencing and artificial intelligence to rapidly identify and optimize antibody candidates against a wide range of disease targets. By combining experimental data with machine learning, AbCellera accelerates early-stage drug discovery and improves the efficiency of lead candidate selection.

AbCellera primarily operates through partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, offering its antibody discovery services on a fee-for-service and milestone-driven basis.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.