Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Shares Up 10.3% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Shares rose 10.3% intraday to about $14.89 after Erasca reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.10), beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01.
• Analyst sentiment is positive with multiple firms raising targets (Mizuho to $19, Guggenheim to $20, Stifel $20) and an average target of $14.10; ratings breakdown is nine Buys, one Hold and two Sells, giving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy."
• Insiders have been selling (e.g., Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares at $15.04 and Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares at $5.59), insiders own 14.40% of the stock while institutional investors hold 67.78%.

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 10.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $14.94 and last traded at $14.89. 4,689,563 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 6,459,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.50.

The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ERAS shares. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Erasca in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Erasca from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Erasca from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Erasca in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $20.00 price objective on Erasca in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Erasca has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $14.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total value of $300,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.59, for a total value of $670,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,174.84. This represents a 82.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 14.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Erasca

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Erasca by 22.3% in the second quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 4,085,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,189,000 after buying an additional 744,268 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Erasca during the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its stake in Erasca by 0.7% in the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 22,729,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,866,000 after acquiring an additional 153,585 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in Erasca by 180.8% in the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 29,177 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 18,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Erasca in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.78% of the company's stock.

Erasca Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.06 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $11.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.84.

Erasca Company Profile

Erasca, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of precision medicines for patients with cancer. The company focuses on small molecule therapeutics that target critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and survival, with a primary emphasis on inhibitors of the MAPK pathway. Erasca's approach is designed to deliver oral, targeted therapies that address both oncogene‐driven and immuno‐oncology indications, aiming to improve outcomes for patients with unmet medical needs.

Erasca's pipeline comprises multiple development candidates, including small molecule inhibitors engineered to disrupt key nodes in cancer cell signaling.

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