Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) Trading 2.8% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME) was up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $47.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zymeworks traded as high as $24.11 and last traded at $23.9610. Approximately 80,312 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 750,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.31.

ZYME has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research downgraded Zymeworks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Zymeworks in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial began coverage on Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp set a $32.00 target price on Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zymeworks in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.70.

Insider Transactions at Zymeworks

In other Zymeworks news, EVP Jeffrey T. L. Smith sold 9,310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total value of $211,057.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,470.36. This trade represents a 25.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Andrew Moore sold 9,560 shares of Zymeworks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total value of $216,725.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 48,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,426.99. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 187,933 shares of company stock valued at $4,673,716 in the last three months. Company insiders own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Zymeworks

Here are the key news stories impacting Zymeworks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Secured $250M non-recourse royalty?backed note from Royalty Pharma — provides non-dilutive capital while only pledging 30% of Ziihera royalties, intended to preserve near?term cash flows and fund share repurchases or strategic transactions. Royalty Financing
• Positive Sentiment: Ziihera regulatory/commercial progress — partner Jazz expects to complete the supplemental BLA for first?line HER2+ GEA in 1Q26 with a potential H2 2026 launch; Zymeworks stands to receive up to $440M in GEA milestones plus tiered royalties, and recent approvals in Canada/UK further de?risk near?term royalty upside. Corporate Update
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Leerink Partners raised its price target to $58 and keeps an Outperform rating, signaling materially higher upside expectations vs. the current price and likely supporting buying interest. Leerink Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Share buybacks underway — company has repurchased ~$62.5M of stock under its authorized program, reducing share count and supporting EPS if continued. Repurchase Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Full?year results mixed: 2025 revenue rose ~39% to $106M and net loss narrowed year?over?year, with cash resources of ~$270.6M — improves runway but depends on milestone timing and partner commercialization. FY2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner clinical updates: J&J presented pasritamig data at ASCO?GU (supporting ongoing Phase 3 work); this is favorable but value accrual depends on future trial readouts and milestone captures. Pasritamig/Partner Data
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly miss: Zymeworks reported Q4 EPS of ($0.55) vs. consensus ($0.35) and Q4 revenue was only $2.52M (down sharply YoY), which creates short?term disappointment and explains some selling pressure. Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional selling: recent disclosures show notable insider sales and large institutional position reductions by some managers — could weigh on sentiment if sustained. Insider/Institutional Activity

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EcoR1 Capital LLC boosted its position in Zymeworks by 33.1% during the second quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 22,970,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,278,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710,840 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 144.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 155,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 91,997 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zymeworks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,531,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 169.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,326,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,661,000 after buying an additional 833,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tejara Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 5.7% in the second quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 200,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,512,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares in the last quarter. 92.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zymeworks Stock Up 3.8%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.81 and a beta of 1.23.

Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $2.52 million for the quarter. Zymeworks had a negative return on equity of 19.25% and a negative net margin of 47.16%.Zymeworks’s revenue was down 91.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS.

Zymeworks Company Profile

Zymeworks Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. The company specializes in engineered antibody and protein therapeutics designed to address a range of unmet medical needs in oncology and other serious diseases. Through its proprietary platforms, Zymeworks aims to create novel bispecific and multispecific molecules that can simultaneously engage multiple targets and recruit immune effector functions to enhance potency and specificity.

At the core of Zymeworks’ innovation is its Azymetric™ bispecific antibody platform, which enables the design of asymmetrical bispecific antibodies with controlled assembly and high stability.