Beam Therapeutics price target lowered to $66 from $95 at Stifel

Stifel lowered the firm’s price target on Beam Therapeutics to $66 from $95 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm thinks the year-end 2023 rally in biotech, complemented by several M&A headlines during the JPMorgan conference, has “infused some renewed optimism into the space,” but sees that underscoring the significance of each company’s execution and/or the outcome of the clinical catalysts to further build on that momentum. Beam has guided to a BEACON update in the second half of 2024, and “while it’s too early to make a call on what to expect from this readout,” the firm will be interested to see how BEAM-101’s profile compares against preceding competitors Casgevy/exacel and reni-cel/EDIT-301, the analyst tells investors.