HC Wainwright Expects Lower Earnings for Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) – Analysts at HC Wainwright dropped their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Aura Biosciences in a report issued on Tuesday, May 12th. HC Wainwright analyst A. Maldonado now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($0.50) per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of ($0.39). HC Wainwright has a “Buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Aura Biosciences’ current full-year earnings is ($1.63) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Aura Biosciences’ Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.50) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.50) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($2.00) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($1.86) EPS, FY2028 earnings at ($1.60) EPS, FY2029 earnings at ($1.20) EPS and FY2030 earnings at ($0.76) EPS.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AURA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AURA stock opened at $8.02 on Thursday. Aura Biosciences has a 1 year low of $4.34 and a 1 year high of $9.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.88 million, a P/E ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 0.37.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.10).

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 20,401 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $103,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 232,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,357.04. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 15,890 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $80,244.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 181,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,054.85. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,039,175 shares of company stock worth $39,656,217. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AURA. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 130.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

Aura Biosciences is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel virus‐like particle (VLP) therapies for the treatment of cancer. By combining proprietary VLP technology with photoactivatable dyes, Aura aims to deliver highly selective photodynamic therapies that target and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company’s platform is designed to address solid tumors in both ophthalmic and non‐ophthalmic settings, leveraging precision activation via near‐infrared light to induce localized tumor cell apoptosis and stimulate anti‐tumor immune responses.

The lead product candidate, AU-011, is being evaluated in patients with choroidal melanoma, a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye cancer.