CRISPR Therapeutics' Q1 Loss Wider Than Expected, Sales Miss Estimates

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CRISPR Therapeutics' Q1 Loss Wider Than Expected, Sales Miss Estimates

CRISPR Therapeutics CRSP reported a first-quarter 2026 loss of $1.28 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.14. The company had incurred a loss of $1.58 in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues were $1.46 million in the quarter (comprising $1 million in collaboration revenue and the rest from grant revenues), which significantly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.39 million. In the year-ago period, CRSP recorded total revenues of $0.87 million, which comprised only grant revenues.

CRSP Stock Movement

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics were down in after-market trading yesterday, likely due to the wider-than-expected loss incurred during the quarter.

Year to date, the stock has risen 2% against the industry’s 3% decline.

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CRSP Boasts Robust Casgevy Sales Momentum

CRISPR Therapeutics and partner Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTX CRISPR/Cas9 gene therapy, Casgevy, is approved across the United States and Europe for two blood disorder indications — sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT). Per the deal terms, Vertex leads global development, manufacturing and commercialization of Casgevy, and splits program costs and profits worldwide with CRISPR Therapeutics in a 60:40 ratio.

Vertex recorded Casgevy sales of about $43 million in the quarter, up from $14.2 million in the year-ago period. This revenue growth was attributed to continued uptake for therapy and reimbursement progress across major regions. Recently, Vertex secured a pricing agreement for therapy in Germany, with final implementation underway.

CRSP Manages Costs While Strengthening Balance Sheet

CRISPR Therapeutics reported research and development (R&D) expenses of $68.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, down 5.4% year over year. The company attributed the decline primarily to lower employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation, reflecting continued efforts to align spending with program priorities.

General and administrative expenses were $17.2 million, down about 11% year over year, also mainly due to lower employee-related costs. Collaboration expense, net, improved to $45.9 million from $57.5 million, driven by an increase in the company’s share of Casgevy sales under the Vertex collaboration economics.

CRSP exited the quarter with $2.44 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, up from $1.98 billion at the end of 2025. It said the increase was primarily driven by $585.4 million in net proceeds from the issuance of convertible senior notes in March, partially offset by operating expenses. The higher cash position strengthens the company’s ability to fund operations as it works to broaden its revenue base over time.

Balance sheet metrics also reflected the larger liquidity position, with working capital rising to $2.31 billion and total assets increasing to $2.73 billion as of March 31, 2026. For investors, the higher cash base provides additional flexibility to fund multiple clinical updates expected later in 2026 across Casgevy expansion efforts, zugo-cel studies and liver-directed in vivo programs.

CRSP’s Pipeline Updates

Alongside the quarterly results, CRISPR announced that Vertex has submitted a regulatory filing seeking label expansion for Casgevy in patients aged five to 11 years with SCD and TDT. If this filing is accepted, VRTX intends to use the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher to significantly cut down the review period to 1-2 months.

CRISPR Therapeutics is advancing its investigational CAR-T cell therapy, zugo-cel, across autoimmune disease and hematologic malignancies, with the autoimmune program becoming increasingly central to the near-term pipeline narrative. The company is running two ongoing phase I basket studies across rheumatology and hematology autoimmune indications, supporting a breadth-first strategy as it evaluates activity across multiple diseases. The program recently moved into autoimmune neurologic diseases after the FDA cleared a third phase I study, which has already been initiated.

CRISPR Therapeutics is focusing on in-vivo candidates. It is currently prioritizing the development of CTX310, designed to target ANGPTL3, in an early-stage study for severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG) and refractory hypercholesterolemia. An update on this study is expected in the second half of 2026.

The company intends to further expand this in-vivo pipeline with more CRISPR-based programs, which include CTX340 (for refractory hypertension), CTX460 (for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency [AATD]) and CTX321 (for lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]). While a clinical study on CTX340 is expected to start in the first half of 2026, the same for CTX460 is targeted for mid-2026.

The collaboration with Sirius Therapeutics has helped the company diversify its pipeline beyond gene therapies and into RNA therapeutics. Both companies are developing an investigational RNA therapy called CTX611 (formerly SRSD107), in a mid-stage study for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Top-line data from this study are expected in the second half of 2026.

CRSP’s Zacks Rank

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

CRISPR Therapeutics AG Price

CRISPR Therapeutics AG Price

 

CRISPR Therapeutics AG price | CRISPR Therapeutics AG Quote

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks include Castle Biosciences CSTL and Catalyst Pharmaceuticals CPRX. While CSTL sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, CPRX carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Over the past 30 days, estimates for Castle Biosciences’ 2026 loss per share have narrowed from $1.42 to $1.40. Over the same period, loss per share estimates for 2027 have narrowed from 79 cents to 78 cents. CSTL shares have lost 34% year to date.

Castle Biosciences’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in the remaining one, with the average surprise being 34.69%.

Over the past 30 days, estimates for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals’ 2026 EPS have risen from $2.78 to $2.79. Over the same period, EPS estimates for 2027 have increased from $3.25 to $3.28. CPRX shares have gained 24% year to date.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 35.19%.

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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