Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by $0.03, FiscalAI reports.

Here are the key takeaways from Atea Pharmaceuticals’ conference call:

• Atea said both pivotal Phase III hepatitis C trials remain on track, with C-BEYOND fully enrolled and top-line data expected mid-2026, while C-FORWARD is 95% enrolled and expected to complete next month with results around year-end.
• Management reiterated that the bemnifosbuvir/ruzasvir regimen continues to show a potentially best-in-class profile, citing high efficacy, short treatment duration, low drug-drug interaction risk, no food effect, and favorable data with PPIs and statins.
• The company emphasized a sizable commercial opportunity in hepatitis C, saying the U.S. market remains about $1.3 billion in annual net sales and that physician research supports strong interest in a head-to-head, test-and-treat friendly option.
• Atea highlighted its commercial readiness plans, including a concentrated prescriber base, a targeted specialty sales force of about 75, in-place manufacturing, and expectations for a short time to profitability after NDA approval.
• The company also advanced its hepatitis E program, reporting CTA-enabling studies for AT-587 are complete and a first-in-human study is expected mid-year, supported by preclinical safety and potency data. Atea ended the quarter with $256 million in cash and investments and said its runway extends through 2027.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.8%

AVIR traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $4.31. 309,184 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 471,655. The firm has a market capitalization of $344.53 million, a P/E ratio of -2.05 and a beta of 0.38. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $2.45 and a 1-year high of $6.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 57.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7,286 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 19,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 5,106 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics targeting RNA viruses. The company’s lead program, AT-527, is a direct-acting nucleotide prodrug licensed from Roche and is being evaluated as a potential treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition to its COVID-19 efforts, Atea’s pipeline includes other small-molecule candidates for hepatitis C virus and emerging RNA pathogens, leveraging its proprietary nucleotide chemistry platform to address significant unmet medical needs in infectious diseases.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Atea operates research laboratories in the Greater Boston area and conducts clinical studies across North America, Europe and parts of Asia.