HC Wainwright Issues Positive Estimate for PRLD Earnings

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised estimates: Analyst R. Burns bumped Q1 2026 EPS to ($0.27) from ($0.30), keeps a "Buy" rating and an $8.00 price target while projecting FY2026 EPS of ($0.93); the stock's consensus target is about $7.00 with a mixed analyst backdrop.
• Large insider purchases: Director Orbimed Advisors LLC and Director David P. Bonita each bought 2,815,315 shares at $4.44 apiece on April 21, materially increasing their stakes and contributing to insiders owning 63.9% of the company.
• Recent financials and market position: Prelude reported Q (quarter) EPS of ($0.20), beating the ($0.33) estimate but missing revenue expectations ($5.64M vs. $20.5M), and trades near a market cap of $276.6M with a 52-week range of $0.73–$5.54.

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:PRLD - Free Report) - Analysts at HC Wainwright increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Prelude Therapeutics in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 27th. HC Wainwright analyst R. Burns now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($0.27) per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of ($0.30). HC Wainwright has a "Buy" rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Prelude Therapeutics' Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.23) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.22) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.22) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($0.93) EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Prelude Therapeutics from $3.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prelude Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Prelude Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Prelude Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PRLD stock opened at $4.39 on Wednesday. Prelude Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.73 and a fifty-two week high of $5.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.49. The company has a market capitalization of $276.57 million, a P/E ratio of -3.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.50 million.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prelude Therapeutics news, Director Orbimed Advisors Llc bought 2,815,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.44 per share, for a total transaction of $12,499,998.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,808,945 shares in the company, valued at $52,431,715.80. The trade was a 31.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Bonita bought 2,815,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.44 per share, with a total value of $12,499,998.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 11,808,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,431,715.80. This represents a 31.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 63.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prelude Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRLD. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 170.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 9.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 529,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 43,946 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 72.4% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 17,873 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Prelude Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Prelude Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors own 79.72% of the company's stock.

About Prelude Therapeutics

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated is a clinical-stage precision medicine company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies for genetically defined oncology targets. By leveraging a chemical biology approach, the company aims to deliver targeted treatments that address key drivers of cancer cell growth and survival. Prelude's pipeline emphasizes novel inhibitors designed to engage molecular pathways validated by both preclinical and clinical evidence.

Among Prelude's lead programs is PRT2527, a selective PI3K‐alpha/delta inhibitor in Phase 1 clinical trials for solid tumors harboring PIK3CA and other pathway mutations.

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