Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.32 EPS

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.32, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $0.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.00 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a net margin of 84.22% and a return on equity of 90.98%.

Arbutus Biopharma Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABUS traded up $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $3.85. 218,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,930,731. Arbutus Biopharma has a 52 week low of $3.50 and a 52 week high of $5.45. The company has a market cap of $761.73 million, a P/E ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.48.

Arbutus Biopharma announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, August 21st that allows the company to buy back shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABUS. Wall Street Zen cut Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Arbutus Biopharma from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arbutus Biopharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.00.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Its research programs include RNA interference (RNAi) therapies, immune-based treatments and capsid assembly inhibitors, which target different aspects of the virus and the body’s response to infection.

The company’s investigational portfolio includes imdusiran, an RNAi therapeutic designed to reduce hepatitis B surface antigen, as well as other HBV drug candidates at various stages of development.