William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for APLS Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its EPS estimates for Apellis Pharmaceuticals for Q3 2025 from $1.46 to $1.48, indicating a positive outlook for the company's earnings.
• Apellis recently reported a quarterly loss of ($0.74) EPS, significantly missing consensus estimates and highlighting challenges with a negative net margin of 28.83%.
• Analysts remain bullish on Apellis, with nine holding, eleven buying, and an average price target of $40.26 noted among investment ratings.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) - Analysts at William Blair increased their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report released on Tuesday, July 29th. William Blair analyst L. Hanbury-Brown now anticipates that the company will earn $1.48 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.46. The consensus estimate for Apellis Pharmaceuticals' current full-year earnings is ($1.70) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Apellis Pharmaceuticals' FY2025 earnings at $0.10 EPS.

APLS has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, hitting $22.95. 4,081,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,551,953. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 3.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $41.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $18.76 and its 200 day moving average is $21.79.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 108.68% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The business's revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,977 shares in the last quarter. Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company's stock worth $44,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,080 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 969.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,518,827 shares of the company's stock worth $48,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $40,461,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,701,737.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,516,671.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,090 shares of company stock worth $3,403,832 over the last ninety days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).