HC Wainwright Has Negative Outlook of XENE FY2027 Earnings

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) – Equities researchers at HC Wainwright dropped their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright analyst D. Tsao now anticipates that the biopharmaceutical company will post earnings per share of ($6.05) for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($6.00). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Xenon Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($3.10) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Xenon Pharmaceuticals’ FY2028 earnings at ($4.97) EPS, FY2029 earnings at ($3.06) EPS and FY2030 earnings at ($0.75) EPS.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.20) by ($0.11). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.84) earnings per share.

XENE has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 price target on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Chardan Capital upgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.94.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of XENE stock opened at $59.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.54 and a beta of 0.91. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $26.74 and a 12 month high of $63.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher John Kenney sold 2,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.11, for a total value of $166,564.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,729 shares in the company, valued at $284,260.19. This trade represents a 36.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 11,269 shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.11, for a total transaction of $677,379.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,731 shares in the company, valued at $885,480.41. The trade was a 43.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 326,647 shares of company stock valued at $19,066,951 in the last ninety days. 4.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xenon Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in XENE. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $1,125,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 203,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,142,000 after acquiring an additional 14,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $964,000. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Xenon Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Phase‑3 X‑TOLE2 readout: azetukalner met its goal by significantly reducing focal‑onset seizure frequency; Xenon now plans an NDA filing in 3Q‑2026 — a clear near‑term commercialization catalyst. Zacks: Azetukalner Phase 3
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised ratings/targets after recent data: Deutsche Bank to $90, HC Wainwright to $74, Wells Fargo to $68, Wedbush to $64 (and others). Upgrades add momentum and institutional validation for XENE’s pathway to commercialization. Deutsche Bank price target raise HC Wainwright price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright materially raised its longer‑term EPS runway (notably FY2030 estimate moved much closer to break‑even), and reiterated a Buy rating — signals improving sell‑side expectations for future profitability. HC Wainwright research note
• Neutral Sentiment: Upsized public offering priced: Xenon priced ~10.53M common shares (plus pre‑funded warrants) at $57/sh to raise approx. $650M (underwriters have a 30‑day option for additional shares). This meaningfully boosts cash runway for Phase‑3/NDAs but completion and market reception remain execution items. GlobeNewswire: Offering details
• Neutral Sentiment: Some mixed FY estimate moves from HC Wainwright (small FY2027 tweak down but bigger improvements in later years) — indicates analysts are reworking multi‑year cash‑flow and approval assumptions as new data and financing details emerge. HC Wainwright estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Ian Mortimer and multiple insiders disclosed large open‑market sales in early March (CEO sold 270k shares at ~\$60.33 and additional transactions), which may concern some investors about timing/intent and can add selling pressure. SEC insider filing
• Negative Sentiment: Dilution risk: the large offering increases share count and could weigh on near‑term per‑share metrics and the stock price until proceeds are visibly deployed to value‑creating milestones. Offering press release

About Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel, small‐molecule drugs targeting ion channels in the central and peripheral nervous system. The company’s research focus centers on neurological and pain disorders—including epilepsy, migraine, and neuropathic pain—by modulating key ion‐channel proteins to restore normal neuronal function. Xenon’s scientific platform draws upon advances in ion‐channel biology and structure‐based drug design to identify and optimize therapeutic candidates with the potential for improved safety and efficacy profiles compared with existing treatments.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple preclinical and clinical programs.