Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AKBA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.40.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

AKBA stock opened at $1.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $347.63 million, a PE ratio of -65.47 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.14 and a one year high of $4.08.

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

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total transaction of $68,838.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,152.10. This represents a 14.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,445,000 after buying an additional 936,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,792 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after acquiring an additional 92,226 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,624 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Key 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.