Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• Absci shares fell 3.3% premarket, opening at $9.02 after the company reported a second-quarter loss of $0.21 per share, versus the $0.19 consensus estimate, and revenue of $0.32 million compared with the $0.89 million forecast.
• The company remains deeply unprofitable, but reported positive interim Phase 1 data for its ABS-201 program and said its cash position should fund operations into the second half of 2028.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with eight Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $13.43; Absci also raised $100 million, including a $40 million strategic investment from Eli Lilly.

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $9.41, but opened at $9.02. Absci shares last traded at $9.1820, with a volume of 742,937 shares trading hands.

The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $0.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.89 million. Absci had a negative net margin of 6,450.76% and a negative return on equity of 66.32%.

Key Absci News

Here are the key news stories impacting Absci this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Absci announced positive interim Phase 1 data from the HEADLINE™ trial of ABS-201, providing a potential clinical catalyst for the company’s AI-designed therapeutics pipeline. The company also said its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities should fund operations into the second half of 2028. Absci Reports Business Updates and Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating and raised or maintained a $13.00 price target, implying approximately 43.6% potential upside based on the referenced price. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed its Buy rating with an $11.00 price target, representing approximately 21.5% potential upside. The repeated bullish analyst views may support sentiment toward ABSI. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Absci completed a $100 million underwritten offering, including a $40 million strategic investment from Eli Lilly. The financing strengthens liquidity and extends the company’s operating runway, while Lilly’s participation may add strategic validation. Absci Reports Business Updates and Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed as zero shares with zero days to cover, offering no meaningful indication of short-covering demand or bearish positioning. The data may be incomplete or unreliable.
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter results missed expectations: adjusted loss was $0.21 per share versus the $0.19 consensus estimate, while revenue of $0.32 million fell well short of the $0.89 million forecast. Absci remains deeply unprofitable, creating a fundamental counterweight to the clinical and financing news. Absci second-quarter earnings report

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABSI. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Absci from $8.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Absci from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Absci in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Absci

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABSI. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Absci during the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Absci in the 2nd quarter worth about $304,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Absci during the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,112,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Absci during the second quarter worth about $1,591,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Absci during the second quarter worth about $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.05% of the company's stock.

Absci Stock Down 3.3%

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $8.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of -10.92 and a beta of 2.35.

About Absci

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.

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.

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