HC Wainwright Issues Pessimistic Estimate for MDGL Earnings

Key Points

• HC Wainwright cut its Q2 2026 earnings estimate for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals to ($3.01) per share, a sharp reduction from its prior forecast of ($0.89), while still keeping a Buy rating and a $620 price target.
• Madrigal reported Q1 2026 EPS of ($3.25), beating expectations, and revenue of $311.34 million, also above estimates, with revenue rising 126.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive despite the estimate cuts: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $682.07, though forecasts for FY2026 and near-term quarters were lowered.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) - HC Wainwright cut their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note issued on Thursday, May 7th. HC Wainwright analyst A. Fein now expects that the biopharmaceutical company will post earnings of ($3.01) per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.89). HC Wainwright currently has a "Buy" rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' current full-year earnings is ($5.59) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' Q3 2026 earnings at ($1.05) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.18 EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($7.07) EPS, FY2027 earnings at $11.78 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $35.23 EPS.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.61) by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $311.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.05 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 27.32% and a negative return on equity of 50.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 126.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($3.32) EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $529.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore set a $649.00 price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $587.00 to $578.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $682.07.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:MDGL opened at $497.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.83 and a beta of -1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $490.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $508.12. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $265.00 and a 1-year high of $615.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 2,141,701 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $982,313,000 after purchasing an additional 165,683 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 388.3% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 15,288 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,012,000 after purchasing an additional 12,157 shares during the period. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $26,776,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 69,273 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,773,000 after purchasing an additional 8,211 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In other Madrigal Pharmaceuticals news, insider Carole Huntsman sold 419 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.94, for a total transaction of $180,982.86. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,482,182.48. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rebecca Taub sold 491 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.94, for a total transaction of $212,082.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 452,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,328,883.22. This trade represents a 0.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,098 shares of company stock worth $2,626,254 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Key Madrigal Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Madrigal Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright maintained a Buy rating on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and reiterated a $620 price target, while also lifting its FY2028 EPS estimate, signaling confidence in the company’s longer-term earnings potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate article highlighted valuation after Madrigal’s strong Q1 2026 earnings and Rezdiffra sales growth, which may support the stock but did not include a new formal rating change.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data showed zero shares outstanding in the latest update, so it does not appear to be a meaningful current trading factor.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its FY2026 EPS estimate to $(7.07) from $(3.11), reflecting a deeper expected loss for the year and potentially weighing on investor sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its Q2 2026 EPS estimate to $(3.01), Q3 2026 EPS to $(1.05), and Q4 2026 EPS to $0.18, implying weaker near-term earnings momentum for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright lowered its FY2027 EPS forecast to $11.78 from $13.25, suggesting some moderation in the company’s medium-term earnings outlook.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies for cardiovascular, metabolic and liver diseases. The company's pipeline centers on novel, liver-directed agents designed to address significant unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and related metabolic disorders.

The lead product candidate, resmetirom (MGL-3196), is an orally administered, selective thyroid hormone receptor-β agonist in Phase 3 development for the treatment of NASH.

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.