Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $491.49, but opened at $452.02. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $450.3060, with a volume of 428,933 shares changing hands.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($2.61). The firm had revenue of $321.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.36 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 42.55% and a negative net margin of 30.08%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 210.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.71) earnings per share.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Madrigal Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rezdiffra commercial strength: Q4 net sales of roughly $321.1M (Q4) and $958.4M for full‑year 2025, more than 36,250 patients on therapy and nearly $989M in cash and marketable securities — evidence of strong revenue growth and a sizeable cash runway. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials and transparency: company provided an earnings slide deck and held a conference call — useful for modeling future margins, guidance and pipeline milestones. Earnings Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Large EPS miss and rising expenses: reported Q4 EPS of ($2.57) vs. consensus ~$0.04, driven by a wider loss as expenses surged despite revenue beating estimates — this prompted an immediate negative market reaction. Zacks Article
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst action: Bank of America cut its price target (from $570 to $529) and set a “neutral” rating, reducing near‑term upside expectations and likely contributing to selling pressure. Benzinga

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $579.00 price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel Shannon T. Kelley sold 692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.36, for a total value of $344,173.12. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 8,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,218,110.16. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Carole Huntsman sold 910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.78, for a total transaction of $449,339.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,504,261.16. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 99,537 shares of company stock valued at $53,485,702. 21.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 221.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 74 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $521.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.44, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.21 and a beta of -1.01.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies for cardiovascular, metabolic and liver diseases. The company’s pipeline centers on novel, liver-directed agents designed to address significant unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and related metabolic disorders.

The lead product candidate, resmetirom (MGL-3196), is an orally administered, selective thyroid hormone receptor-β agonist in Phase 3 development for the treatment of NASH.