Analysts Are Betting On Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) With A Big Upgrade This Week

Celebrations may be in order for Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The revenue forecast for next year has experienced a facelift, with the analysts now much more optimistic on its sales pipeline. Investors have been pretty optimistic on Aclaris Therapeutics too, with the stock up 21% to US$2.63 over the past week. Could this upgrade be enough to drive the stock even higher?

Following the latest upgrade, the eight analysts covering Aclaris Therapeutics provided consensus estimates of US$11m revenue in 2025, which would reflect a concerning 59% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Losses are expected to increase slightly, to US$0.56 per share. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$9.7m and losses of US$0.60 per share in 2025. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.

View our latest analysis for Aclaris Therapeutics

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for Aclaris Therapeutics 48% to US$2.30 on the back of these upgrades.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 51% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 42% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 10% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Aclaris Therapeutics is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that analysts reduced their loss per share estimates for next year, reflecting increased optimism around Aclaris Therapeutics' prospects. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. There was also an increase in the price target, suggesting that there is more optimism baked into the forecasts than there was previously. Given that analysts appear to be expecting substantial improvement in the sales pipeline, now could be the right time to take another look at Aclaris Therapeutics.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have estimates - from multiple Aclaris Therapeutics analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies backed by insiders.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.