What happened
Although analyst takes on stocks should always be evaluated critically, they can really move a company's share price in the right or wrong direction. On Tuesday, that dynamic was apparent with biotech MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX 0.57%).
Thanks to several prognosticator price target boosts following encouraging clinical data, the company's stock rocketed 13% higher on the day, blasting past the S&P 500 index's 1.2% rise.
So what
Investors were already over the moon about MoonLake on Monday; the biotech company's stock price skyrocketed after it published that data. It came from a phase 2 trial of its investigational treatment sonelokimab, which met its primary endpoints for both safety and efficacy in the treatment of chronic skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
Barclays analyst Leon Wang didn't waste any time upping his MoonLake price target by nearly 50%. After market hours on Monday, he cranked it to $41 per share from his previous $28, although he maintained his equal weight (i.e., hold) recommendation on the stock.
The following day, two of his peers at BTIG and Wedbush made even more drastic increases. The former's Julian Harrison now feels MoonLake is worth $68 per share, quite some distance up from his preceding $36 estimation, and continues to deserve his outperform (buy) rating.
In a new note, Harrison said that sonelokimab has set a new standard for HS treatment, and its effects on the affliction could be unprecedented.
Now what
Not to be outdone, Wedbush pushed up its MoonLake price target to $61 per share, nearly doubling it from the previous $33. The researcher kept its outperform recommendation intact. Wedbush said that it has even more confidence in the viability of sonelokimab than it did previously.
