Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $90.31, but opened at $96.71. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $93.5830, with a volume of 1,344,274 shares.

Key Stories Impacting Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: FDA approved IMCIVREE (setmelanotide) for acquired hypothalamic obesity — the first and only therapy for this rare condition, expanding the label and potential patient population, which materially strengthens Rhythm’s commercial runway. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Rhythm named PANTHERx® Rare as the exclusive U.S. specialty pharmacy partner for the expanded IMCIVREE indication — this should improve patient access, distribution scale and support launch execution. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some brokers still assign above-current price targets (one report references a $133.19 consensus PT from select brokers), indicating divergent views on upside even after recent weakness. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor/earnings-call coverage and transcripts are circulating (discussing the FDA approval and commercialization plans), useful for modeling uptake but not a direct catalyst on their own. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright reduced EPS forecasts across multiple quarters and cut its FY2027 outlook and price target (now $100) — the cuts lower near-term earnings expectations and likely contributed to selling pressure despite the firm maintaining a Buy rating. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple brokers published pessimistic forecasts or lowered expectations (Bank of America, RBC, Needham, Citizens JMP), creating additional downward pressure and a wider dispersion of analyst views. Read More. Read More. Read More. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on RYTM shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $143.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $176.00 to $152.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.13.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.04 and its 200-day moving average is $102.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.12 and a beta of 2.06.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.16 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 103.57% and a negative return on equity of 266.56%. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.72) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $502,789.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at $14,329.60. This trade represents a 97.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $444,025.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,512 shares in the company, valued at $11,190,445.12. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,267 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 148.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after buying an additional 23,506 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,311,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,868,000 after acquiring an additional 24,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing targeted therapies for rare genetic diseases of obesity and metabolic dysfunction. The company’s research focuses on the melanocortin‐4 receptor (MC4R) pathway, which plays a central role in regulating appetite, energy expenditure and body weight. Using proprietary peptide technology, Rhythm aims to provide precision treatments to patients with specific genetic variants that disrupt normal weight regulation.

The company’s lead investigational product, setmelanotide, is a selective MC4R agonist designed to restore signaling in patients with deficiencies in genes such as POMC, LEPR and PCSK1.