CRISPR Therapeutics Shares Drop 6.71% on Q2 Losses and $96M Charge as $250M Volume Ranks 475th

Generated by AI AgentAinvest Market Brief
Tuesday, Aug 5, 2025 6:33 pm ET1min read
Aime RobotAime Summary

- CRISPR Therapeutics shares fell 6.71% on Q2 losses, driven by a $96.3M non-recurring charge and below-forecast revenue.

- Casgevy sales rose 114% to $30.4M, but rising collaboration costs and reduced R&D spending pressured cash reserves.

- Pipeline updates and RNA expansion failed to offset investor skepticism, as Zacks’ “Strong Sell” rating highlights doubts on near-term profitability.

- Backtest shows high-volume trading strategies outperformed benchmarks, but recurring losses question long-term viability.

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) closed August 5, 2025, with a 6.71% decline, trading at a volume of $250 million—the 475th highest on the day. The drop followed a second-quarter loss of $2.40 per share, driven by a $96.3 million non-recurring charge from its Sirius Therapeutics collaboration. Despite this, adjusted losses narrowed to $1.29 per share, below expectations. Revenue of $890,000, sourced entirely from grants, fell sharply short of forecasts, highlighting ongoing financial pressures.

The company’s gene-editing therapy, Casgevy, showed early traction, with $30.4 million in Q2 sales—a 114% increase from the prior quarter. Over 75 treatment centers are now active globally, and 115 patients have completed initial cell collections since commercialization. However, these gains were offset by rising collaboration costs and reduced operating expenses, which included a 13% year-over-year drop in R&D spending to $69.9 million. Cash reserves stood at $1.72 billion as of June 30, 2025, down from $1.86 billion in March.

Recent pipeline updates included positive phase I data for CTX310, showing up to 82% reductions in triglycerides and 86% in LDL cholesterol. The collaboration with Sirius expanded CRISPR’s focus into RNA therapeutics, adding siRNA candidate SRSD107 for thromboembolic disorders. However, the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) rating and recent inclusion in the Strong Sell list underscored investor skepticism about near-term profitability. Analysts noted the stock’s 51% year-to-date surge amid industry-wide gains of 2%, but questioned sustainability amid recurring losses and high cash burn.

The backtest results indicated that a strategy of purchasing the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding for one day generated a 166.71% return from 2022 to the present, significantly outperforming the benchmark’s 29.18% return. This highlights the potential of liquidity-focused strategies in volatile markets, though such approaches are better suited for short-term traders rather than long-term investors.

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