Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Liquidia from “strong buy” to “hold,” bringing the broader analyst consensus to “hold” with an average price target of $98.08.
• Liquidia reported strong second-quarter revenue of $171.68 million, up 1,842% year over year and above estimates, driven by YUTREPIA sales; however, adjusted EPS of $0.74 narrowly missed the $0.76 consensus.
• The stock opened at $74.44 and has risen substantially over the past year, while insiders sold about $123 million of shares in the last quarter, adding a potential cautionary signal for investors.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LQDA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens set a $130.00 price target on Liquidia in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Lifesci Capital downgraded Liquidia from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $70.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Liquidia from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Liquidia Price Performance

LQDA stock opened at $74.44 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.67 and a 200-day moving average of $55.13. Liquidia has a 12-month low of $21.15 and a 12-month high of $93.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.34 and a beta of 0.58.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Liquidia had a return on equity of 149.65% and a net margin of 30.74%.The firm had revenue of $171.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $168.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.49) EPS. Liquidia's revenue was up 1842.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liquidia will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Liquidia news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.48, for a total transaction of $8,948,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 501,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,872,161.96. This represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sarah Krepp sold 7,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $562,354.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,379,398.78. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 1,756,861 shares of company stock worth $122,981,112 in the last quarter. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liquidia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Liquidia in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Liquidia by 281.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the period. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in Liquidia in the second quarter valued at approximately $175,000. 64.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Liquidia News

Here are the key news stories impacting Liquidia this week:

• Positive Sentiment: YUTREPIA sales drove second-quarter revenue to $171.68 million, exceeding the $168.48 million consensus estimate, while revenue increased more than 1,800% year over year. Management also highlighted rising demand for the inhaled lung-disease treatment. LQDA Q2 Earnings Top
• Positive Sentiment: Liquidia is targeting more than $1 billion in 2027 net revenue as YUTREPIA gains market share and helps fund a broader inhaled-treprostinil pipeline, providing investors with a significant long-term growth narrative. LQDA Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target from $79 to $92, while BTIG Research and Needham indicated further appreciation potential. These targets support the bullish case, although Bank of America retained a neutral rating. Bank of America Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Lifesci Capital initiated or maintained a Market Perform view, reflecting more balanced expectations despite the company’s strong commercial momentum. Lifesci Capital Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.74 per share narrowly missed the $0.76 consensus estimate. The results triggered a negative reaction despite the revenue beat, particularly after LQDA had already risen sharply this year. Liquidia Shares Gap Down
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright lowered its third-quarter 2026 EPS forecast to $1.01 from $1.15, adding pressure to near-term expectations. With a reported price-to-earnings ratio above 54, investors may be particularly sensitive to estimate reductions. HC Wainwright Estimate Revision

About Liquidia

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company's lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

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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