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what it is
Aura is trying to turn one cancer drug platform into organ-sparing treatments for solid tumors, starting with eye cancer.
how it gets paid
Last year Aura Biosciences made n/a in revenue.
what just happened
The core takeaway is simple: Aura still lost money, with Q4 2024 EPS at -$0.52 and full-year EPS at -$1.75.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
-$1.75 fy2024 eps est
1.3 beta
~$377M market cap
small cap
xvary composite: 34/100 — weak
What they do
Aura is trying to turn one cancer drug platform into organ-sparing treatments for solid tumors, starting with eye cancer.
Aura's edge is focus. It has one lead asset, bel-sar, already in a global Phase 3 trial for small choroidal melanoma. Jargon → virus-like drug conjugates → targeted cancer cargo delivery → so what: if it works, you may get tumor killing without sacrificing organ function.
How they make money
n/a
annual revenue
The products that matter
lead clinical program
bel-sar (au-011)
no approved revenue today · phase 3 timing matters more than quarterly sales because there are no quarterly sales
This is the whole page in one line: Aura's lead program carries the value, the risk, and most of the patience test. Management has pointed investors to a 2026 update and a Q4 2027 Phase 3 readout. If the data works, the stock will not look like a $377M company. If it does not, the target math stops mattering fast.
single-program story
Key numbers
$1.75
fy2024 eps
Full-year loss per share improved from -$1.93 in 2023 to -$1.75 in 2024. Translation: losses got 9.3% smaller. So what: the business is still burning value, just a bit slower.
10/100
price stability
Price stability measures how steady the stock has been. Translation: 10 out of 100 is very jumpy. So what: you are not buying calm here.
$14M
long-term debt
Long-term debt is only 4% of capital. Translation: debt is light. So what: trial risk matters more than balance-sheet risk.
$151.1M
cash pile
Aura reported $151.1 million of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of December 31, 2024. So what: the company has time, but time is what biotech burns.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $14M (4% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for AURA right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
The core takeaway is simple: Aura still lost money, with Q4 2024 EPS at -$0.52 and full-year EPS at -$1.75.
Quarterly losses improved through the first three quarters of 2024, from -$0.40 to -$0.42, then slipped back to -$0.52 in Q4. This is a clinical-stage biotech, so the income statement still reflects spending ahead of revenue.
$0.52
q4 eps
$1.75
fy2024 eps
9.3%
loss improvement
the number that mattered
The number that matters is -$1.75, because that is the full-year loss per share for 2024 and the clearest scorecard on whether cash burn is easing.
source: quarterly EPS history and company update, 2025
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What could go wrong
Aura's risk profile is unusually concentrated. This is not a diversified biotech with multiple approved products. It is a prerevenue company where one program, one timeline, and one cash runway do most of the talking.
med
single-asset concentration
Bel-sar is the lead story. There is no commercial revenue base to soften a bad readout.
If the program stumbles, the stock does not have another business line to hide behind. That is the catch with a one-asset setup.
med
cash runway can shrink faster than headlines suggest
$151M in cash sounds solid. Phase 3 development through a Q4 2027 window is not cheap, and there is no revenue offset.
If burn rises after trial expansion, dilution becomes a live issue. You are not buying a finished capital structure.
med
waiting itself is a risk
A 2026 update helps, but the main readout still sits in Q4 2027. That leaves a long stretch for delays, financing questions, and attention drift.
Stocks like this can sag long before the science settles anything. If you own it, you are underwriting time as much as biology.
med
the $22 target is not a promise
A median target 258% above the stock looks dramatic because scenario-based biotech targets often assume the trial works.
If confidence in the timeline slips, the target math stops feeling generous and starts feeling theoretical. That gap cuts both ways.
You are betting that Phase 3 data can outrun a business that still has $0 million in trailing revenue.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
the next clinical update in 2026
This is the nearest proof beat the company has pointed to. If the update slips or disappoints, the stock will feel it before 2027 arrives.
risk
cash burn after the Mar 31, 2026 report
You are not watching EPS here. You are watching how fast $151M turns into a smaller number while the company stays prerevenue.
metric
the balance between $151M cash and $14M debt
Debt is manageable. Runway is the real issue. If spending rises faster than expected, the financing question comes back sooner than investors want.
trend
whether the market keeps pricing a Q4 2027 success case
A $22 median target versus a $6.14 stock tells you optimism still exists. The trend to watch is whether that gap stays wide or closes because conviction fades.
Analyst rankings
median target
$22 +258%
in human-speak, analysts still see a big payoff if the program works
signal quality
low
one lead asset and no revenue make target math highly sensitive to trial assumptions
what matters more
data
price targets are opinions. the 2026 update and the Q4 2027 readout are the proof beats
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for AURA is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$6
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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