Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Sees Large Volume Increase - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of Absci saw heavy trading with 7,856,475 shares changing hands (a 105% increase from the prior session) and the stock rising from $3.94 to $4.76 during the session.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—three Buys, one Hold and one Sell—giving an average rating of Hold$6.44, while notable calls include Weiss Ratings' Sell (D-) and Needham's $7 Buy.
• Fundamentals remain weak: Absci reported ($0.23) EPS and missed revenue estimates, showing severely negative margins, even as insiders (one director) increased holdings and institutions (about 52% ownership) including ARK and Vanguard recently added to positions.

Shares of Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 7,856,475 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session's volume of 3,828,079 shares.The stock last traded at $4.76 and had previously closed at $3.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Absci in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Absci from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $4.32 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.44.

Absci Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $753.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 2.00. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.26.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.07). Absci had a negative net margin of 4,113.68% and a negative return on equity of 62.33%. The company had revenue of $0.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Absci Corporation will post -0.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Absci

In other news, insider Andreas Busch acquired 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.29 per share, with a total value of $229,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 421,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $965,111.34. This represents a 31.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sean Mcclain sold 26,761 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.99, for a total value of $80,015.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,334,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,920,355.33. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Absci

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Absci by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 12,550,799 shares of the company's stock worth $43,802,000 after buying an additional 388,026 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Absci by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,281,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,137,000 after acquiring an additional 830,336 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Absci by 190.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,990,877 shares of the company's stock worth $20,908,000 after acquiring an additional 3,925,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Absci by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,623 shares of the company's stock worth $11,309,000 after acquiring an additional 186,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Absci by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,191,011 shares of the company's stock worth $9,701,000 after acquiring an additional 625,451 shares during the last quarter. 52.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Absci Company Profile

Absci Corporation NASDAQ: ABSI is a biotechnology company that applies machine learning, synthetic biology and automation to accelerate the discovery and development of protein-based therapeutics. The company's Integrated Drug Creation® (IDC®) platform is designed to identify and produce novel antibody and enzyme candidates at speeds and scales that traditional biopharma discovery methods cannot match. Absci works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to generate, screen and optimize protein molecules for a wide range of therapeutic applications.

The core of Absci's offering is its end-to-end discovery engine, which combines proprietary algorithms, high-throughput laboratory automation and a deep learning framework.

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