Q1 EPS Forecast for WAVE Life Sciences Raised by Analyst

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised its Q1 2026 EPS estimate for WAVE to ($0.33) from ($0.35) and maintained a Buy rating with a $30 price target while forecasting FY2026 EPS of ($1.32).
• WAVE's latest quarter showed EPS of ($0.30), missing consensus by $0.02 while revenue beat at $17.25 million; the company remains unprofitable with a negative net margin of 478.35%.
• Street sentiment is largely positive (13 Buys, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $33, amid notable insider activity including a CFO share sale and a sizable stake increase by GSK.

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Free Report) - Stock analysts at HC Wainwright lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for WAVE Life Sciences in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 2nd. HC Wainwright analyst A. Fein now expects that the company will earn ($0.33) per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($0.35). HC Wainwright currently has a "Buy" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for WAVE Life Sciences' current full-year earnings is ($1.14) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for WAVE Life Sciences' Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.33) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.33) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.32) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($1.32) EPS.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.02). WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 478.35% and a negative return on equity of 85.69%. The firm had revenue of $17.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.68 million.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WVE. Morgan Stanley set a $28.00 target price on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Leerink Partners restated an "outperform" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

WAVE Life Sciences stock opened at $13.71 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.90. WAVE Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $5.28 and a fifty-two week high of $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -11.24 and a beta of -1.77.

Insider Activity

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total value of $3,101,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,317,749.86. This represents a 70.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $27,930,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 948,375 shares of company stock valued at $14,112,151 in the last three months. 23.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 10.2% during the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,060 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 95,706 shares of the company's stock worth $1,627,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,124 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.73% of the company's stock.

About WAVE Life Sciences

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company's pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington's disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.

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