HC Wainwright Issues Optimistic Estimate for CBIO Earnings

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised its Q1 2026 EPS estimate for Crescent Biopharma to ($0.76) from ($1.33), maintained a "Buy" rating and a $22 price target, and projects FY2026 EPS of ($3.14).
• Crescent reported a Q4 loss of ($4.01) per share on Feb. 26—missing consensus of ($2.22)—with $10.84 million in revenue, highlighting near-term financial pressure despite the analyst revision.
• The stock still carries a consensus "Buy" with a $28 average target and about 75% institutional ownership, indicating continued analyst and investor interest amid volatility.

Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO - Free Report) - Stock analysts at HC Wainwright increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Crescent Biopharma in a report issued on Monday, March 2nd. HC Wainwright analyst M. Kapoor now anticipates that the biopharmaceutical company will post earnings per share of ($0.76) for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of ($1.33). HC Wainwright currently has a "Buy" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Crescent Biopharma's current full-year earnings is ($0.16) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Crescent Biopharma's Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.78) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.79) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.81) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($3.14) EPS.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.22) by ($1.79). The business had revenue of $10.84 million during the quarter.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CBIO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e-)" rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Crescent Biopharma from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $29.00 price objective on Crescent Biopharma in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Crescent Biopharma Price Performance

Shares of CBIO opened at $11.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.21 and a 200 day moving average of $12.37. Crescent Biopharma has a 1-year low of $8.72 and a 1-year high of $28.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBIO. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the second quarter worth $149,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth $138,000. HRT Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter valued at $155,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. 75.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Crescent Biopharma

Crescent Biopharma, Inc NASDAQ: CBIO is a clinical‐stage immuno‐oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for patients with solid tumors. The company's research strategy centers on combination approaches that enhance anti‐tumor immune responses by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways implicated in immune evasion and tumor growth.

The company's lead candidate, CPB-201, is a bifunctional fusion protein designed to block programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) while neutralizing transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), with the goal of restoring T-cell activity and reducing tumor fibrosis.

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