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Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) Gets New Rating Uprgades from 2 Analysts; Shares Climb

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) saw its share price jump by 10.65 percent to close at $31.89 apiece after earning a bullish outlook and a double-digit price target hike from an analyst.

In its market note, investment firm Guggenheim upgraded its stock target by 15.8 percent to $44 from $38 previously, while keeping a buy recommendation. It said the coverage reflected its growing conviction for 2027.

Guggenheim’s coverage followed Cantor Fitzgerald’s separate call last Thursday, assigning the listed firm an overweight rating and a higher price target of $48.

For Cantor, this reflected the belief that the company would be able to hit $3.5 billion in peak sales for its eczema and psoriasis treatment, Zoryve.

Photo by Mizuno K on Pexels

Zoryve Propels Earnings

It can be recalled that Zoryve primarily drove Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ earnings performance in the second quarter of the year, with net income ending at $15 million, reversing a net loss of $15.9 million in the same period last year.

Revenues surged by 59 percent to $129.86 million from $81.5 million, amid the strong demand for the treatment of multiple skin diseases.

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The strong results prompted the company to raise its net product sales guidance for full-year 2026 to a range of $525 million to $540 million from $480 million to $495 million previously.

CMO Adjusts Stake

Separately, the rally can be supported by its chief medical officer’s adjustments of his stake, with a series of buy and sell transactions last Thursday.

In a regulatory filing, Arcutis Biotherapeutics said that CMO Howard Welgus acquired $32,458 worth of shares at prices ranging from $6.5223 to $8.63 apiece.

On the same day, he disposed of 4,728 shares at $26.93 each for a total of $127,325.

Hedge Funds Hike Stake in Q2

Institutional investors appeared to be bullish on the stock, as evidenced by the increase in the number of stakeholders and their combined holdings in the second quarter of the year.

Data from Insider Monkey showed that during the period, 44 hedge funds held positions in the stock, a marked jump from 34 in the first quarter.

More notably, their collective holdings soared by 15 percent to $1.117 billion from $968 million quarter-on-quarter.

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