We recently compiled a list of the Why These 15 Stocks Are Skyrocketing in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) stands against the other stocks that are skyrocketing now.
The market has started to favor smaller companies in 2025, and stocks between $1 billion and $5 billion in market value are attracting renewed interest. These stocks had a forgettable stretch over the past few years, but investors now see evidence that underperformance among mid-cap and small-cap names could end soon.
The S&P MidCap 400 and S&P 600 indexes still trail large caps by a wide margin, yet smaller firms have held up well even as interest rates remain elevated. The valuation gap between these groups and the biggest names in the market has also widened to levels that analysts consider unusually attractive.
Investors now expect momentum to build for select companies in this sweet spot, and many of them are in fast-growing industries with strong fundamentals.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the top-performing stocks year-to-date in the $1 billion to $5 billion market capitalization bracket. Stocks that I have covered this week will be excluded from this list.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors for these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
A geneticist in a lab coat using high tech microscopes to research hepatitis B and influenza A viruses.
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 22
Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) is an immunology company that makes antibody platforms and T-cell engagers. The company focuses on chronic hepatitis delta, chronic hepatitis B, and HIV. It also has “masked” T-cell engagers in clinical trials for some solid tumors.
The recent rise was triggered by its positive early-stage clinical results in oncology. Vir Biotechnology announced in early January that it had encouraging outcomes from its dual-masked T-cell engagers in solid tumors and advanced prostate cancer. Analysts noted that Vir is now aiming to launch a Phase 3 program for its hepatitis delta treatment in the first half of this year and reported over $1.19 billion in cash.
Regardless, like most biotech startups, Vir Biotechnology recorded a net loss in Q3 2024, but the huge cash pile can fund development into mid-2027 despite the losses. Its 2025 consensus revenue estimate is at $33 million, and projected EPS is around -$2.8 for 2025.
The consensus analyst price target is $31.38, which implies 198% upside. However, you should keep in mind that this is biotech and over-the-top price targets are common here.
The stock is up 44.8% year-to-date.
Overall VIR ranks 4th on our list of the stocks that are skyrocketing in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of VIR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VIR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
