CRISPR Therapeutics Traded Sideways and Down for 12 Months: One Wall Street Pro Expects 85% Gains Soon
CRISPR Therapeutics owns the only approved gene therapy of its kind, yet the stock sits far below where Wall Street thinks it belongs. One analyst sees a path to gains that would embarrass the broader market, but the numbers tell…
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CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP | CRSP Price Prediction) trades at $59.03, while the average Wall Street price target sits at $87.56. That leaves the stock roughly 48% below where analyst consensus thinks it belongs.
The Swiss-domiciled biotech co-developed CASGEVY with Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX), the first CRISPR-based gene therapy ever cleared for commercial use. It treats sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia and is now approved in 39 countries. Partner-reported CASGEVY revenue jumped 151% year over year in Q2 to $76M.
Commercial progress has not translated to the stock. One Piper Sandler analyst carries a Street-high $110 target, implying roughly 86% upside from here.
Twelve Months of Sideways Grinding on Weak Revenue
CRSP is down 4.94% over the past year while the S&P 500 climbed 15.98%. The damage came from steady drift rather than any single blowup. Full-year 2025 revenue was $3.51M, and Q4 2025 revenue collapsed 97.5% year over year to $864K as Vertex’s cost-deferral arrangement lapsed and collaboration expense spiked to $53.7M. Q1 2026 revenue then missed by 65.73%.
Cash burn was heavy, with a 2025 net loss of $581.6M. Even after Q2’s 37% revenue beat, the market has treated CRSP as a story stock in limbo.
Piper Sandler’s $110 Anchors the Bull Case
The most aggressive published call belongs to Edward Tenthoff at Piper Sandler, who reiterated Overweight and lifted his target to $110 after CRISPR closed a $600 million convertible note offering that pushed pro forma cash to roughly $2.56 billion. That balance sheet fully funds R&D for years without dilutive equity raises.
Tenthoff models 2026 CASGEVY revenue around $300 million on roughly 150 patient starts, with FDA clearance for children ages 5-11 opening a fresh cohort via priority review vouchers. Consensus is nowhere near that bullish; the Street’s 2026 revenue estimate sits at just $40.83M, climbing to $156.58M in 2027. Any acceleration in uptake could trigger sharp revisions.
The wholly-owned pipeline is the wild card, with CTX310 Phase 1b durability data due at the ESC Congress and zugo-cel autoimmune and B-cell lymphoma readouts pending.
EPS revisions have skewed upward, with 12 upward revisions in the trailing 30 days versus 3 down for FY2026.
Every Gene-Editing Name Sits at a Steep Discount
The whole cohort is dislocated, and CRISPR is actually the least discounted of the group. Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) trades at $12.69 versus a $24.00 consensus target for about 89% implied upside, though shares are down 26.48% over the past year.
Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) sits at $25.93 against a $52.15 average target, roughly 101% upside, with analysts almost unanimously Buy-rated (13 of 15). Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) is a $2.92 stub with a $6.00 target for roughly 105% implied upside, though 2 Strong Sells against 6 Buys signal real skepticism.
Analyst targets are not guarantees anywhere in this space. While EDIT shows the largest implied gap on paper, CRSP is the only name in this group with an approved commercial product generating partner-reported revenue.
Consensus Says 48%, Piper Says 86%
CRSP trades at $59.03 with a $5.71B market cap. The consensus $87.56 target across 22 covering analysts implies about 48% upside; Piper Sandler’s Street-high $110 implies roughly 86%.
Shares are up 13.89% on the week, up 12.57% year to date, and down 4.94% over the past year. The S&P 500 is up 13.41% YTD and 15.98% over the past year.
Where I Land on CRISPR
CRISPR Therapeutics looks compelling here if you believe CASGEVY’s commercial ramp is inevitable and the $2.36B cash cushion gives the in vivo pipeline time to prove itself. But the setup weakens if consensus 2026 revenue of $40.83M already feels generous and you expect pipeline readouts to disappoint.
Bull path: CASGEVY accelerates via pediatric expansion, CTX310 delivers durable Lp(a) reductions, and the Street revises upward toward Piper’s number. Bear path: partner-recognized revenue stays lumpy, gene editing remains out of favor, and cash-burning biotechs stay in the penalty box.
I lean cautiously constructive. CRSP is the only company in this peer group with an approved product on the market, and it trades at less than half of the Street-high target. That risk-reward looks favorable to me, provided you can stomach the volatility.
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Alex Sirois is a financial writer with experience spanning both retail and institutional investing. He has written for InvestorPlace and held roles at BNY Mellon and Bernstein, giving him a perspective that bridges Main Street portfolios and Wall Street analysis.
Alex holds an MBA from George Washington University and has built his career across multiple industries, including e-commerce, education, and translation — a breadth of experience that informs how he breaks down complex financial topics for everyday investors. His writing is conversational, actionable, and grounded in long-term, buy-and-hold investing principles.
At 247 Wall St., Alex focuses on delivering analysis that is both accessible and useful, with a clear emphasis on helping readers make more informed decisions with their money.
