Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $26.49, but opened at $22.44. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $22.70, with a volume of 410,863 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AMPH. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 2,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total transaction of $62,881.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 71,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,858.56. This represents a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $256,419.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 13,950 shares of company stock valued at $363,925 in the last three months. 27.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Management expects mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth for 2026 and is launching a new respiratory product, which provides a clear growth runway beyond the quarter that disappointed investors. Amphastar outlines mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth for 2026 while launching new respiratory product
• Positive Sentiment: Two sell-side shops lowered price targets from $34 to $30 but retained constructive ratings (Wells Fargo: overweight; Needham: buy), signaling that analysts still see significant upside from current levels despite trimming near-term assumptions. Analyst price target coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Company published its Q4 press release, slide deck and conference call materials for investors to review detailed results and management commentary. These materials may clarify margin drivers and product cadence. Press release / slide deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media write-ups (Zacks, Seeking Alpha, Investing.com) provide deeper metric-level analysis comparing results to estimates — useful for modeling but not new catalyst by itself. Zacks comparison of key metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed consensus: adjusted EPS of $0.73 vs. ~$0.97 expected and revenue of $183.1M vs. ~$190.5M, prompting investor concern about near-term growth and profit leverage. MarketBeat earnings summary
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction has been amplified by heavy trading and coverage noting the miss; short-interest reports in public feeds are noisy/unclear but the immediate selloff reflects disappointment with the quarter. Yahoo finance: earnings miss and market reaction

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 86.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 90,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $931,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,447,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,018,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 188.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 60,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 39,846 shares during the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.01. The stock has a market cap of $929.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.88.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $183.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 17.74%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company’s manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar’s portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.