Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.27 EPS

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) released its earnings results on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.27), Zacks reports. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. The business had revenue of $24.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.57 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Verastem’s conference call:

• Third-quarter net product revenue was $24 million, up 114% year over year. Refills were strong, but new patient starts moderated after substantial Q2 growth; management said quarterly starts can fluctuate and expects continued growth as physician adoption broadens.
• The FDA accepted the new blister-pack NDA for priority review, with a February 2027 PDUFA date. If approved, the presentation would reduce pill burden, eliminate refrigeration, and make dosing and storage easier—changes the company believes could support adherence and time on therapy.
• Verastem reported encouraging early VS-7375 results in KRAS G12D cancers, including a 50% confirmed response rate in second-line pancreatic cancer, as well as activity in colorectal and lung cancer. The company also highlighted a manageable safety profile, while noting the data remain early and based on relatively small patient groups.
• The company reached FDA agreement on its first-line pancreatic cancer Phase III trial, which it plans to start by year-end 2026; it aims to begin first-line colorectal and lung Phase III trials in the first half of 2027. The pancreatic trial includes response rate and progression-free survival as dual primary endpoints, but the company said accelerated approval based on response rate is not assured.
• Verastem raised about $250 million in gross proceeds in October, bringing pro forma quarter-end cash to $422.8 million and extending its expected runway into the first half of 2028. Adjusted net loss widened to $72.8 million from $39.1 million a year earlier as the company continued investing in its clinical program.

Verastem Stock Down 10.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $8.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.25. The company has a market capitalization of $761.61 million, a PE ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.25. Verastem has a 52 week low of $3.43 and a 52 week high of $10.82.

Key Stories Impacting Verastem

Here are the key news stories impacting Verastem this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright raised its price target from $18 to $20 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Verastem’s prospects. HC Wainwright rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lowered its target from $19 to $18 but kept its Outperform rating. The reduced target is a modest caution, while the rating remains supportive. RBC rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, a sale equal to about 0.2% of his holdings; he still owned more than 651,000 shares afterward. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Verastem posted an updated corporate presentation on its oncology programs, but the available report did not specify material new developments. Presentation update
• Negative Sentiment: Verastem reported a Q3 loss of $0.74 per share, wider than the roughly $0.47 consensus loss, while revenue of $24.0 million missed estimates of about $26.6 million. The loss narrowed from $1.35 per share a year earlier, but the quarterly misses were the clearest near-term pressure on the stock. Q3 results

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $352,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,221,696. The trade was a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 48,041 shares of company stock worth $386,390 in the last ninety days. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VSTM shares. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Verastem in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.83.

About Verastem

Verastem, operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on tumors driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which can promote cancer-cell growth and resistance to treatment.

Verastem’s leading product candidates include avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp designed to inhibit signaling within the RAS/MAPK pathway, and defactinib, an oral focal adhesion kinase inhibitor.