HC Wainwright Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for ARQT

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) – Research analysts at HC Wainwright reduced their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report released on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright analyst D. Tsao now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($0.08) per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.02). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.33) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ FY2026 earnings at $0.18 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.83 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $1.45 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $1.91 EPS.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $129.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.79 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 10.26% and a negative net margin of 4.29%.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.86.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Down 4.7%

NASDAQ ARQT opened at $23.60 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of -168.56 and a beta of 1.66. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $11.86 and a 52 week high of $31.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 9,874,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,227 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 10.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,254,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,714 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 7,534.3% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,024,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,086 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,630,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $238,000.

Insider Activity at Arcutis Biotherapeutics

In other news, insider Todd Watanabe sold 37,349 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $940,447.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 785,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,397.26. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 8,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total transaction of $220,944.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,464,379.60. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 175,233 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,485. 9.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Arcutis Biotherapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Arcutis Biotherapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Arcutis announced first participant enrollment in a Phase 1a/1b study of ARQ-234 (a CD200R agonist) to evaluate safety/tolerability in healthy volunteers and adults with moderate–severe atopic dermatitis — a clear pipeline positive that supports long-term growth potential. ARQ-234 trial enrollment
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker action: Mizuho lowered its price target from $37 to $35 but kept an “Outperform” rating — a modest near-term negative signal (slightly lower PT) but still positive conviction from the analyst. Mizuho note
• Neutral Sentiment: Fund reporting: Baron Health Care Fund published Q4 2025 activity (fund filings sometimes move small- and mid-cap biotechs), but the feed doesn’t specify a material position change in ARQT. Baron fund activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in the feed is inconsistent/erroneous (reports show 0 shares / NaN changes), so it provides no actionable signal to explain today’s move. Investors should treat those figures as unreliable until clarified by exchange data.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: multiple company insiders sold shares on Feb 27–Mar 2 (including Todd Watanabe, Masaru Matsuda, Patrick Burnett, CFO Latha Vairavan and others). The aggregated sales total ~62,000 shares across named insiders (largest single sale ~37,349 shares by Watanabe). Insider sales can be interpreted as near-term negative sentiment or simple liquidity diversification — but the market often reacts negatively to clustered insider dispositions. Representative SEC filings: Todd Watanabe sale Watanabe Form 4, Masaru Matsuda filings Matsuda Form 4

About Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Arcutis Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for immuno-inflammatory skin diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on targeted treatments that address the underlying biology of conditions such as plaque psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis and vitiligo. Arcutis employs a precision-medicine approach to deliver topical therapies designed to improve efficacy and tolerability compared with existing treatment options.

In August 2022, Arcutis received U.S.