Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) Shares Up 2.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME) shares shot up 2.8% on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $47.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zymeworks traded as high as $24.11 and last traded at $23.9610. 80,312 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 750,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.31.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Zymeworks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Zymeworks from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Zymeworks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Andrew Moore sold 9,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total transaction of $216,725.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,426.99. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey T. L. Smith sold 9,310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total value of $211,057.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,470.36. The trade was a 25.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 187,933 shares of company stock valued at $4,673,716 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Zymeworks

Here are the key news stories impacting Zymeworks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street upgrades — Stifel raised its price target to $47 (buy) and Leerink Partners raised its target to $58 (outperform), both signaling strong analyst conviction and meaningful upside vs. the current price. Benzinga (Stifel) Benzinga (Leerink)
• Positive Sentiment: $250M non‑recourse royalty‑backed financing with Royalty Pharma provides immediate, non‑dilutive capital while preserving most future Ziihera royalties — improves flexibility to continue buybacks and pursue strategic moves. GlobeNewswire: Royalty‑Backed Financing
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial and milestone upside for Ziihera — partner Jazz is completing a supplemental BLA for first‑line HER2+ GEA (expected Q1 2026) with a potential 2H‑2026 launch; Zymeworks is eligible for up to ~$440M in GEA‑related milestones plus future royalties and further milestone pools. This underpins the company’s revenue runway and valuation re‑rating. GlobeNewswire: Corporate Update
• Positive Sentiment: Share‑repurchase execution — company has repurchased ~$62.5M under the authorized program to date; combined with the Royalty Pharma funding this supports near‑term buybacks and EPS accretion expectations. GlobeNewswire: Repurchase Details
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call & transcripts published — management reviewed strategy shift toward royalty/asset aggregation, R&D priorities and three‑year expense discipline; transcripts and presentations are available for detail (useful for modeling, but not new headlines). Yahoo Finance: Q4 2025 Earnings Call Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed expectations — reported EPS of $(0.55) vs. consensus $(0.35) and Q4 revenue of $2.52M (down sharply year‑over‑year). The weak quarterly revenue and continued GAAP losses are near‑term headwinds and warrant conservative near‑term models until royalties and milestone receipts ramp. Zacks: Q4 Loss & Revenue Miss

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zymeworks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zymeworks by 86.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 22,411 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Zymeworks by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Zymeworks by 487.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 135,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 112,636 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Zymeworks by 6.7% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 27,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zymeworks in the second quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.89% of the company’s stock.

Zymeworks Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.64 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.95.

Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $2.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.78 million. Zymeworks had a negative net margin of 76.56% and a negative return on equity of 24.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 91.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS.

About Zymeworks

Zymeworks Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. The company specializes in engineered antibody and protein therapeutics designed to address a range of unmet medical needs in oncology and other serious diseases. Through its proprietary platforms, Zymeworks aims to create novel bispecific and multispecific molecules that can simultaneously engage multiple targets and recruit immune effector functions to enhance potency and specificity.

At the core of Zymeworks’ innovation is its Azymetric™ bispecific antibody platform, which enables the design of asymmetrical bispecific antibodies with controlled assembly and high stability.