Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Stock Price Up 11% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Absci shares rose 11% to $3.58 on Friday, trading about 1.77M shares (roughly 51% below average); the stock has a market cap of ~$548M and sits between its 50‑day ($2.78) and 200‑day ($3.25) moving averages.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting an EPS loss of ($0.23) vs. ($0.16) expected and revenue of $0.65M vs. $1.38M est., leaving Absci with a very negative net margin and analysts forecasting a -0.89 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — three Buys, one Hold and one Sell — resulting in a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $6.44; insiders own 10.49% (including a recent 100,000‑share purchase by Andreas Busch) and institutional ownership is about 52% (ARK increased its stake).

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) rose 11% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $3.57 and last traded at $3.5840. Approximately 1,770,968 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 3,615,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Absci in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Absci in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Absci from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $4.32 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Absci currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.44.

Absci Stock Up 10.8%

The stock has a market cap of $547.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 2.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $2.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.25.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $0.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 million. Absci had a negative return on equity of 62.33% and a negative net margin of 4,113.68%. As a group, analysts expect that Absci Corporation will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Absci

In other news, insider Andreas Busch acquired 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was purchased 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 trade represents a 31.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sean Mcclain sold 26,761 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.99, for a total transaction of $80,015.39. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Absci

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Absci by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 12,162,773 shares of the company's stock worth $36,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,845 shares during the period. Heights Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Absci in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,081,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Absci by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,928 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 19,046 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Absci by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,499 shares of the company's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 24,311 shares during the period. Finally, MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in Absci in the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.05% of the company's stock.

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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