Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 21st, 2026

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT – Get Free Report)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $32.24 and last traded at $31.4450, with a volume of 1,775,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.82.

Key Arcutis Biotherapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Arcutis Biotherapeutics this week:

Positive Sentiment: Two analysts upgraded their views on Arcutis Biotherapeutics, helping support the stock’s advance. Recent bullish coverage includes Guggenheim’s “Buy” rating and $44 price target, as well as Cantor Fitzgerald’s “Overweight” rating and $48 target. Arcutis Biotherapeutics Gets New Rating Upgrades from 2 Analysts
Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim raised its price target to $44 from $38, citing growing conviction in Arcutis’s 2027 outlook. The target is well above the stock’s recent trading level and reinforces expectations for continued commercial growth. Arcutis Soars as Guggenheim Lifts Target
Positive Sentiment: The analyst response helped push ARQT to a new 52-week high. Wall Street’s consensus remains favorable, with eight Buy ratings, three Holds and an average price target of approximately $38. Arcutis Biotherapeutics Advances to New 52-Week High
Neutral Sentiment: Arcutis is projected to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Investors will be watching ZORYVE sales, revenue growth and profitability for evidence that the company can meet elevated expectations. Arcutis Biotherapeutics Projected to Release Earnings
Negative Sentiment: Director Howard Welgus sold 4,728 shares for approximately $127,000, reducing his direct holdings by 11.84%. However, the transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which reduces its significance as a discretionary bearish signal. Arcutis Insider Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Get Our Latest Report on Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.86 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.70 and its 200 day moving average is $24.95.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $129.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.85 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 15.05%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Terrie Curran sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $956,146.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,855.78. The trade was a 61.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 9,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $250,024.67. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,908,035.46. The trade was a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 83,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,143,291 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering treatments for dermatologic conditions. The company’s portfolio is centered on therapies designed to address inflammatory skin diseases, with an emphasis on nonsteroidal topical medicines that may help patients manage chronic conditions.

Arcutis’s lead product is ZORYVE (roflumilast), a topical phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor. ZORYVE has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for multiple dermatological uses, including plaque psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis, in different cream and foam formulations.