HC Wainwright Has Bullish Forecast for ARQT Q2 Earnings

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) – Equities researchers at HC Wainwright increased their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report issued on Thursday, May 7th. HC Wainwright analyst D. Tsao now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.04 for the quarter, up from their prior 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 $0.18 per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ Q3 2026 earnings at $0.06 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.17 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.79 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $1.39 EPS, FY2029 earnings at $1.83 EPS and FY2030 earnings at $2.09 EPS.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.47%. The firm had revenue of $105.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.68 million.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ARQT. Wall Street Zen lowered Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Trading Down 14.5%

Shares of ARQT stock opened at $20.66 on Friday. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $12.72 and a fifty-two week high of $31.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -688.44 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arcutis Biotherapeutics

In related news, Director Howard G. Welgus sold 7,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $164,240.56. Following the sale, the director owned 32,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $749,474. This trade represents a 17.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Todd Watanabe sold 3,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total value of $74,890.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 720,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,017,025.55. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,831 shares of company stock valued at $2,295,499. 9.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arcutis Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 65,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 57,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Commercial and clinical momentum: Q1 net product revenue for ZORYVE was $105.4M (up ~65% YoY), the company reported positive operating cash flow, submitted an sNDA to expand ZORYVE to infants 3–24 months, completed pediatric MUSE enrollment, initiated a Phase 1a/1b for ARQ?234, and expanded the salesforce/primary care buildout — all support continued top?line growth and pipeline optionality. Arcutis Announces First-Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Needham reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $36 price target (mid?$30s Street consensus / “Moderate Buy”), which underpins upside expectations versus current levels and can stabilize sentiment over the medium term. Needham Reaffirms Buy, $36 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed Q1 financials: Revenue slightly beat estimates ($105.4M vs. ~$103.7M) but GAAP EPS missed materially (loss of $0.09 vs. expected loss of ~$0.02), highlighting ongoing margin/expense pressure as the company invests in growth. Q1 Loss, Revenue Beat (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call detail available: management commentary and slide deck / transcript provide additional context on commercialization cadence, seasonality, and SG&A investment — important for assessing whether EPS pressure is transitory. Earnings Presentation Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Clustered insider selling: multiple insiders — including directors and executives (Howard Welgus, Masaru Matsuda, Todd Watanabe, CFO Latha Vairavan and others) — sold shares in early May under pre?arranged Rule 10b5?1 plans to cover tax on vested awards. Filings state routine/tax reasons, but the concentrated activity can create short?term selling pressure. Insider Selling Details

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.