Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Key Points

• Beam Therapeutics shares fell sharply: The stock opened at $26.76 versus a prior close of $29.66 and last traded near $25.94.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Ten analysts rate the stock Buy, two Hold, and one Sell, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $49 price target.
• Financial results were weak: Beam missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a $1.18 loss per share versus the expected $1.11 loss, while revenue plunged 94.2% year over year to $0.49 million.

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.66, but opened at $26.76. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $25.9410, with a volume of 1,313,116 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BEAM. Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 price objective on Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a current ratio of 14.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.15 and a beta of 2.22.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $0.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.Beam Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.00) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total transaction of $8,867,466.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 854,583 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,132,596.58. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEAM. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $1,309,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 3,228.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,586,612 shares of the company's stock worth $123,093,000 after buying an additional 3,478,871 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 448.7% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,238 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $535,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company's stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: BEAM is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing precision genetic medicines through its pioneering base editing platform. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional research facilities in Philadelphia, the company focuses on engineering molecular editors capable of making precise single-nucleotide changes in DNA. By harnessing its proprietary base editing technology, Beam aims to correct or disrupt disease-causing genetic variants at their source, offering the potential for novel therapies in areas with significant unmet medical need.

Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Harvard University and the Broad and Whitehead Institutes, Beam was co-founded by leading academic researcher David R.

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