Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, HC Wainwright Analyst Says

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price hoisted by HC Wainwright from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 116.90% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.56.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $22.13 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.20 and its 200 day moving average is $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.39 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $60,890.69. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,883,692.79. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $73,386.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,744.81. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 64,742 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,869,000 after purchasing an additional 9,747 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 11,862 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 22,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue — Apellis reported $0.47 EPS vs. consensus of roughly -$0.39 and revenue of $199.9M, slightly above expectations; the print shows improvement from a loss a year ago and supports the commercialization story. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized a strong EMPAVELI launch and commercial momentum, which is the primary growth driver investors will watch going forward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company filed slides and the earnings press release and posted full earnings/transcript resources for investors to review the call details and guidance assumptions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Complete Q4 earnings call transcripts are available (multiple outlets), useful for parsing management commentary on uptake, pricing, and 2026 priorities. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the latest bulletin appears unreliable/empty (0 shares reported and NaN changes), so it shouldn’t be used to infer bearish positioning. (Data flagged by exchanges looked anomalous.)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was down ~5.9% year‑over‑year despite the EPS beat, and analysts still model a challenging near‑term profit profile (consensus for the year remains negative), leaving the stock exposed if commercial growth slows or guidance disappoints.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technicals may be pressuring the stock — APLS trades with a rich P/E and sits below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages, so upside hinges on sustained EMPAVELI uptake and clearer forward guidance.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.