Wall Street Zen Downgrades Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) to Hold

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AKBA. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.40.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.31 on Friday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.14 and a 52-week high of $4.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $347.63 million, a P/E ratio of -65.47 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.11.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $57.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.37 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.81% and a negative net margin of 2.26%. Analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total value of $68,838.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,152.10. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Caption Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

More Akebia Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Akebia Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reported strong commercial performance — Q4 2025 net product revenue of $54.3M and full‑year 2025 net product revenue of $227.3M (a 49% increase vs. 2024); company expects meaningful Vafseo (vadadustat) revenue growth in 2026 and is advancing clinical programs (praliciguat Phase 2 enrolling for FSGS; AKB‑097 Phase 2 rare kidney disease basket trial planned for 2H 2026). Akebia Therapeutics Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results and Commercial and Pipeline Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and highlights are available — the call provides management color on commercial execution, 2026 revenue drivers and pipeline timelines for investors wanting detail on guidance and cadence. Akebia (AKBA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage roundup published that summarizes current sell/hold/buy positioning and recent analyst comments — useful for gauging consensus and near‑term catalysts. 6AKBA : Where Akebia Therapeutics Stands With Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss: Akebia reported ($0.05) EPS vs. consensus ($0.03) — despite revenue beating estimates, the bottom‑line miss and negative net margin / ROE metrics raise near‑term profitability concerns. Akebia Therapeutics Q4 Earnings (MarketBeat)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pessimism: BTIG published a bearish forecast for AKBA, which can weigh on sentiment and trading until clearer profitability/growth trajectories are demonstrated. BTIG Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated short interest history — reports show ~31.2M shares short (~12.1% of float) with a ~7.1 days‑to‑cover (as of mid‑Feb), which can amplify downside pressure; note some recent short‑interest entries contain inconsistent/zero values, suggesting data reporting noise that investors should verify with official exchange filings.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with kidney disease. The company’s lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis patients. Akebia’s research and development efforts also extend to preclinical programs targeting nephrology and related metabolic disorders.

Since its founding in 2007, Akebia has pursued strategic collaborations to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its market reach.