HC Wainwright Cuts Earnings Estimates for WAVE Life Sciences

Key Points

• HC Wainwright sharply cut its FY2027 EPS forecast for WAVE to ($0.90) from ($0.22) but kept a "Buy" rating with an $18 price target.
• WAVE's most recent quarter missed EPS expectations—reported ($0.30) vs. ($0.28) consensus—while beating revenue at $17.25M, and the company remains deeply unprofitable with a negative net margin and ROE.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed (consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $30.63 target) amid price-targets ranging widely and recent insider selling; the stock trades near $7.59 with a 12‑month range of $5.02–$21.73.

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Free Report) - Analysts at HC Wainwright cut their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 14th. HC Wainwright analyst A. Fein now expects that the company will post earnings of ($0.90) per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of ($0.22). HC Wainwright currently has a "Buy" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for WAVE Life Sciences' current full-year earnings is ($1.14) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for WAVE Life Sciences' FY2028 earnings at ($0.80) EPS, FY2029 earnings at ($0.59) EPS and FY2030 earnings at ($0.28) EPS.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $17.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.68 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 478.35% and a negative return on equity of 85.69%.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WVE. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $27.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of WAVE Life Sciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.63.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock opened at $7.59 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $11.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.22 and a beta of -1.32. WAVE Life Sciences has a 12 month low of $5.02 and a 12 month high of $21.73.

Insider Activity at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 10,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total transaction of $140,956.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,705,744. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Francis sold 33,194 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.05, for a total transaction of $499,569.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 61,867 shares in the company, valued at $931,098.35. The trade was a 34.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 52,373 shares of company stock valued at $757,527 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 23.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 9,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WAVE Life Sciences Company Profile

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company's pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington's disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.

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