HC Wainwright Expects Weaker Earnings for Sage Therapeutics

Sage Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAGE - Free Report) - Investment analysts at HC Wainwright decreased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Sage Therapeutics in a report issued on Wednesday, October 30th. HC Wainwright analyst D. Tsao now expects that the biopharmaceutical company will earn ($6.72) per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of ($6.58). HC Wainwright currently has a "Neutral" rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Sage Therapeutics' current full-year earnings is ($6.43) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Sage Therapeutics' Q4 2024 earnings at ($1.69) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($1.54) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($1.30) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.99) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.95) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($4.78) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($3.63) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($2.87) EPS.

Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SAGE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.52) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $11.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 million. Sage Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 50.29% and a negative net margin of 317.29%. Sage Therapeutics's revenue was up 337.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.81) EPS.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SAGE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Sage Therapeutics from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Sage Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Sage Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Sage Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Sage Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $4.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.89.

Sage Therapeutics Stock Performance

SAGE stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.05. 1,060,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 980,088. The company has a market cap of $370.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.08 and a beta of 0.91. Sage Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $5.84 and a 1-year high of $28.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.95.

Institutional Trading of Sage Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Sage Therapeutics by 69.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 811,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,217,000 after purchasing an additional 333,805 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sage Therapeutics by 8.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,751,373 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $107,781,000 after buying an additional 432,013 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sage Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $187,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Sage Therapeutics by 27.1% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 4,465,544 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $83,684,000 after acquiring an additional 952,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sage Therapeutics by 4.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.22% of the company's stock.

About Sage Therapeutics

Sage Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes brain health medicines. Its product candidates include ZULRESSO, a CIV injection for the treatment of postpartum depression (PPD) in adults; and ZURZUVAE, a neuroactive steroid, a positive allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors, targeting both synaptic and extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, for the treatment of postpartum depression.