Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) Reports Q1 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates

Company Performance - Arbutus Biopharma reported a quarterly loss of $0.13 per share, which was worse than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.09, and compared to a loss of $0.10 per share a year ago, indicating an earnings surprise of -44.44% [1] - The company posted revenues of $1.76 million for the quarter ended March 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.25%, and showing an increase from year-ago revenues of $1.53 million [2] - Over the last four quarters, Arbutus has surpassed consensus EPS estimates just once, but has topped consensus revenue estimates three times [2] Stock Outlook - The immediate price movement of Arbutus shares will depend on management's commentary during the earnings call, as the stock has lost about 2.5% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.1% [3] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the coming quarter is -$0.02 on $1.6 million in revenues, and -$0.20 on $7.35 million in revenues for the current fiscal year [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Arbutus is currently favorable, leading to a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) for the stock, suggesting it is expected to outperform the market in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, to which Arbutus belongs, is currently in the top 30% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating a favorable outlook for stocks within this sector [8] - Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can be tracked by investors [5]