Vaxcyte slides after Q1 loss widens as spending ramps ahead of key Phase 3 readouts

Vaxcyte (PCVX) is down 9.8% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The drop appears tied to investor digestion of Vaxcyte’s first-quarter update, which showed a sharply wider net loss as R&D and manufacturing spending accelerated to support late-stage pneumococcal vaccine trials. Even with a large cash balance, the combination of higher burn and recent equity issuance can pressure sentiment in pre-revenue biotech names.

Details:

Vaxcyte reported a first-quarter net loss of $320.6 million (a loss of $2.30 per share), versus a $140.7 million net loss in the prior-year quarter.

R&D expense rose to $312.8 million in the quarter, reflecting higher clinical trial, manufacturing, and personnel costs tied to its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programs.

Cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaled about $2.74 billion as of March 31, 2026, and included net proceeds from a February 2026 equity offering.

The company said its three adult Phase 3 OPUS trials for VAX-31 are fully enrolled, with the first topline readout expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 (and additional results expected in the first half of 2027).

Sources:

Vaxcyte Investor Relations, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, MarketBeat

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$PCVX Insider Trading Activity

$PCVX insiders have traded $PCVX stock on the open market 12 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 12 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $PCVX stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

ELVIA COWAN (SVP, Finance & CAO) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 19,015 shares for an estimated $988,600.
JIM WASSIL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 11,895 shares for an estimated $694,785.
HARPREET S. DHALIWAL (Chief Technical Ops Officer) sold 9,743 shares for an estimated $454,890

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API.

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$PCVX Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 149 institutional investors add shares of $PCVX stock to their portfolio, and 151 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CALIGAN PARTNERS LP added 1,704,815 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $78,660,164
T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. removed 1,632,619 shares (-19.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $75,329,040
FMR LLC added 1,324,581 shares (+10.6%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $61,116,167
POLAR CAPITAL HOLDINGS PLC added 1,257,253 shares (+302.6%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $58,009,653
RA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. removed 1,241,392 shares (-10.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $57,277,826
UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 1,203,566 shares (-75.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $55,532,535
JENNISON ASSOCIATES LLC added 1,020,458 shares (+150.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $58,854,915

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$PCVX Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $PCVX in the last several months. We have seen 3 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Guggenheim issued a "Buy" rating on 02/02/2026
Needham issued a "Buy" rating on 01/07/2026
BTIG issued a "Buy" rating on 11/10/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $PCVX, check out Quiver Quantitative's $PCVX forecast page.

$PCVX Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $PCVX recently. We have seen 3 analysts offer price targets for $PCVX in the last 6 months, with a median target of $110.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Thomas Shrader from BTIG set a target price of $89.0 on 02/26/2026
Seamus Fernandez from Guggenheim set a target price of $116.0 on 02/02/2026
Joseph Stringer from Needham set a target price of $110.0 on 01/07/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.