Wedbush Predicts Higher Earnings for Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush lifted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report issued on Tuesday, July 15th. Wedbush analyst L. Chico now expects that the company will earn ($0.16) per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of ($0.22). The consensus estimate for Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($1.70) per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.52) EPS.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 99.19% and a negative net margin of 28.83%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.54) earnings per share.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $19.47 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of -10.88 and a beta of 0.67. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $41.94.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,933,912.27. This represents a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,551,000 after buying an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,977 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,699,000 after buying an additional 28,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,748,000 after purchasing an additional 30,867 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).