Analyst Ratings February 23, 2026

Morgan Stanley Lifts PTC Therapeutics Target to $92 Citing OpEx Cuts and Sephience Momentum

Firm keeps Overweight rating after model update following the company’s fourth-quarter and fiscal 2025 update; management reiterates cautious 2026 revenue guidance

By Priya Menon PTCT
Morgan Stanley Lifts PTC Therapeutics Target to $92 Citing OpEx Cuts and Sephience Momentum
PTCT

Morgan Stanley increased its price target on PTC Therapeutics to $92 from $90 and maintained an Overweight rating after updating its financial model in the wake of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 disclosure. The firm cited operating expense adjustments and a somewhat quicker Sephience uptake as drivers for the modest target bump, while company guidance for fiscal 2026 remains cautious amid uncertainty around its DMD franchise.

Key Points

  • Morgan Stanley raised its PT on PTC Therapeutics to $92 from $90 and kept an Overweight rating; stock trades at $70.66 with analyst price targets ranging $60 to $124.
  • Management reiterated fiscal 2026 net product revenue guidance of $700 million to $800 million, expecting most sales to come from Sephience amid uncertainty around DMD franchise erosion.
  • Company provided fiscal 2026 non-GAAP R&D and SG&A guidance of $680 million to $720 million (excluding $95 million stock-based compensation); fiscal 2025 non-GAAP R&D and SG&A were $728 million, below prior guidance.

Morgan Stanley has adjusted its valuation outlook for PTC Therapeutics, lifting the firm’s price target to $92 from $90 while retaining an Overweight rating on the shares. The stock is trading at $70.66, and the current analyst consensus implies roughly 22% upside versus the new target, with individual price projections spanning from $60 to $124.

The investment bank refreshed its model following PTC Therapeutics’ fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results call. Management had previously pre-announced those fourth-quarter and full-year results and provided guidance for fiscal 2026 in January.

Company leadership reiterated a net product revenue outlook for fiscal 2026 in the range of $700 million to $800 million, indicating the bulk of that sales contribution is expected to come from Sephience. That forecast is delivered against a backdrop of uncertainty tied to erosion within the company’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy - DMD - franchise, which the company said could reduce overall revenue compared with the most recent twelve-month tally.

To put current expectations in context, PTC Therapeutics generated $1.73 billion in revenue over the last twelve months, a period that included 115% revenue growth. Analysts have flagged a likely sales decline for the current year, a view that aligns with management’s cautionary tone for 2026.

On cost guidance, the company set non-GAAP research and development and selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal 2026 at $680 million to $720 million, excluding $95 million of stock-based compensation. For fiscal 2025, non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses totaled $728 million, slightly under management’s prior guidance range of $730 million to $760 million.

Morgan Stanley described the increased price target as a function of rolling its model forward, incorporating operating expense adjustments and assuming a modestly faster uptake of Sephience. The firm’s valuation uses a discounted cash flow approach with a 10% discount rate and assumes a 0.5% terminal growth rate after 2035.

PTC Therapeutics currently carries a market capitalization of $5.85 billion. A third-party financial research service assigns the company a "GREAT" financial health score.

Operationally, the company provided product-level detail for the quarter and year. Un-audited fourth-quarter global revenue for Sephience was reported at $92.5 million. Total product and royalty revenue for 2025 amounted to approximately $823.4 million, exceeding the company’s earlier guidance. Product revenue alone reached about $587.8 million.

In regulatory developments, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved Sephience for the treatment of phenylketonuria - PKU - in both children and adults. That decision represents PTC Therapeutics’ first product approval in Japan and covers patients of all ages and the full severity spectrum of the disease.

Separately, PTC Therapeutics withdrew its New Drug Application resubmission for Translarna following feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicating the resubmitted data were unlikely to meet the agency’s threshold for approval.

On the analyst front, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating with a $124.00 price target in response to the company’s fourth-quarter report. Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $119.00 price target, calling out the potential of PTC’s PKU therapy and noting its view that the treatment could achieve more than $2 billion in peak sales.

Taken together, the combination of a modestly higher price target, reiterated revenue guidance, updated expense plans, and recent regulatory and product developments presents investors with a multi-faceted view of PTC Therapeutics’ near-term profile and medium-term opportunity.


Additional context and resources

For investors seeking more in-depth analysis, comprehensive research reports and modeled forecasts on the company are available through professional subscription services.

Risks

  • Revenue uncertainty tied to deterioration in the DMD franchise could cause sales to decline versus the prior twelve-month period; this impacts biotech and healthcare market segments.
  • Regulatory and approval setbacks, illustrated by the withdrawal of the Translarna NDA resubmission after FDA feedback, create uncertainty for product commercialization and affect biotech investor sentiment.
  • Guidance sensitivity to operating expenses and execution on the Sephience ramp; if Sephience uptake is slower than assumed or OpEx reductions are not realized, valuation and cash flow projections could be negatively affected.

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