HC Wainwright Issues Pessimistic Outlook for AXSM Earnings

Key Points

• HC Wainwright lowered its Axsome Therapeutics earnings forecasts, including Q3 2026 EPS to $(0.95) from $(0.91) and full-year 2026 EPS to $(4.10) from $(3.89), signaling deeper near-term losses.
• Axsome recently missed quarterly expectations, reporting $(0.99) EPS versus the $(0.89) consensus estimate and revenue of $218.38 million versus $221.11 million expected.
• Despite the cautious earnings outlook, HC Wainwright maintained a Buy rating, while analysts overall have a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $267.60.

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXSM - Free Report) - Research analysts at HC Wainwright decreased their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for Axsome Therapeutics in a research report issued on Monday, August 24th. HC Wainwright analyst R. Selvaraju now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($0.95) per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($0.91). HC Wainwright currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Axsome Therapeutics' current full-year earnings is ($2.78) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Axsome Therapeutics' Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.91) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($4.10) EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at ($0.27) EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.92 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.25 EPS.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $218.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $221.11 million. Axsome Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 265.55% and a negative net margin of 24.68%.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Axsome Therapeutics from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $241.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $280.00 price target on shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $258.00 price objective on shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.60.

Axsome Therapeutics Trading Up 0.0%

AXSM stock opened at $205.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.79 and a beta of 0.65. Axsome Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $112.90 and a 52-week high of $260.19. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $230.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axsome Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Axsome Therapeutics by 27,073.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,176,933 shares of the company's stock worth $2,735,778,000 after acquiring an additional 11,135,801 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Axsome Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $759,695,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,509,870 shares of the company's stock worth $275,763,000 after purchasing an additional 472,422 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,334,560 shares of the company's stock worth $162,082,000 after purchasing an additional 609,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,273,494 shares of the company's stock worth $232,591,000 after purchasing an additional 282,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Axsome Therapeutics

In other news, Director Susan Mahony sold 300 shares of Axsome Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total value of $71,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $267,810.09. The trade was a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Herriot Tabuteau sold 49,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.01, for a total value of $11,970,966.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 7,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,742,261.29. This trade represents a 87.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 200,766 shares of company stock valued at $46,685,646. Corporate insiders own 20.60% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Axsome Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Axsome Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating on Axsome Therapeutics, indicating that the firm remains constructive on the company’s longer-term outlook. The analyst still forecasts positive earnings for 2027, including $5.25 per share for the full year. Axsome Therapeutics analyst information
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright’s revised forecast continues to show Axsome Therapeutics transitioning from losses in 2026 to profitability in 2027, with estimated 2026 EPS of $(4.10), first-quarter 2027 EPS of $(0.27), and positive EPS in the second and third quarters of 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright reduced its 2026 EPS forecast to $(4.10) from $(3.89), and cut estimates for third- and fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $(0.95) and $(0.91), respectively. These revisions point to deeper near-term losses.
• Negative Sentiment: The analyst also lowered projected 2027 earnings: second-quarter EPS fell to $1.06 from $1.30, third-quarter EPS to $1.92 from $2.30, fourth-quarter EPS to $2.53 from $2.81, and full-year EPS to $5.25 from $6.47. The downward revisions may pressure the stock because they reduce expectations for the pace of Axsome’s earnings ramp.
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate short-interest report listed zero shares sold short and a zero-day short-interest ratio, but the data appears unreliable because it also reported an undefined percentage change. It therefore provides little actionable insight into AXSM’s trading outlook.

Axsome Therapeutics Company Profile

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company focuses on small-molecule drugs designed to address unmet medical needs in areas such as depression, migraine, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia. Axsome employs a precision medicine approach, leveraging pharmacologic innovation to target underlying mechanisms of disease and improve patient outcomes.

Axsome's pipeline includes several late-stage and approved product candidates.

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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