Aura Biosciences Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
A substance risk in the narrow sense is not documented, and for a company without revenue that is remarkable: the accounts to June 30, 2026 carry no going-concern paragraph, equity is clearly positive at $315.3 million, there is no financial debt, and $323.8 million in cash and marketable securities covers far more than the critical four quarters at a burn rate of $32.5 million per quarter — company guidance is a runway into the first half of 2029. What is missing for green is the decisive property: there is no ongoing business carrying anything at all. The entire result hangs on one event, the Phase 3 CoMpass trial with roughly 100 patients, whose data are not expected before the second half of 2027. That case — a functioning operation whose outcome depends on a single event — is precisely what the yellow level describes. That authorized capital was tripled to 500 million shares and a $200.0 million sales window opened is one more reason not to judge this green here. Whether a price of roughly $784 million for that outcome is too high is a separate question, and this rating does not answer it. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Aura Biosciences is clinical-stage biotech in its purest form: no approval, no revenue since 2009, an accumulated deficit of $559.7 million — set against an unusually clean balance sheet holding $323.8 million in cash and marketable securities with no financial debt at all (June 30, 2026). In August 2026 the company narrowed itself radically: the bladder cancer program was effectively shelved despite an 81 percent response rate at three months, and roughly 20 percent of jobs will go. That leaves everything resting on the Phase 3 CoMpass trial in early choroidal melanoma, whose topline data are not expected before the second half of 2027. Buying today means buying a probability calculation with a fixed date — and a dilution frame that was tripled to 500 million authorized shares on August 5, 2026. Not investment advice.
Balance sheet and funding
As of June 30, 2026, cash and marketable securities of $323.8 million stood against equity of $315.3 million, with liabilities of only $32.9 million and no financial debt whatsoever. There is no going-concern paragraph from the auditor. Management guides to a runway into the first half of 2029 — comfortably beyond the trial date.
Business model and earning power
Since inception in 2009 Aura has never recorded a dollar of revenue. The loss widens every year: $76.4 million (2023), $86.9 million (2024), $106.2 million (2025) and $79.3 million in the first half of 2026 alone; the accumulated deficit stands at $559.7 million. No ongoing business carries anything.
Concentration risk
After the refocus announced on August 11, 2026, the value of the company rests on one trial: Phase 3 CoMpass with roughly 100 patients. The second program in bladder cancer was effectively shelved despite an 81 percent response rate at three months. Aura does not expect the decisive topline data before the second half of 2027.
Dilution
Shares outstanding rose from 37,771,918 (December 31, 2022) to 103,704,809 as of August 6, 2026, plus 11,173,185 warrants. Authorized share capital was raised from 150 million to 500 million shares on August 5, 2026, and a $500.0 million shelf registration including a $200.0 million sales program was filed on August 11 — roughly a quarter of the market capitalization.
Use of proceeds and leadership
Of the $280.8 million raised in May, $39.0 million went into repurchasing the Matrix stake at $5.64 per share while new investors paid $6.00; the audit committee approved the transaction. Leadership was almost entirely replaced during 2026, which lifted administrative expense in the second quarter by $11.6 million — primarily from equity award modifications, alongside higher professional fees.
Medical starting position
No approved medicine exists for early choroidal melanoma, and standard therapies frequently cost the vision or the eye. In the Phase 2 study, bel-sar achieved tumor control in 80 percent of the ten Phase 3-eligible patients and preserved visual acuity in 90 percent. The Phase 3 design is agreed with the FDA in writing.
Worth Noting
What triggered this analysis was the Form 10-Q filed August 11, 2026, in which the encouraging interim data from the bladder cancer program and its discontinuation sit in a single paragraph; in our in-house stock scanner Aura Biosciences was not covered until September 8, 2026 and was added as a catch-up. Conventional metrics mislead on this stock — without revenue or earnings neither a P/E nor a price-to-sales ratio can be formed, and credit measures built on revenue such as the Altman Z-score say little.
Data as of: balance sheet and income figures come from the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, filed August 11, 2026; the share count of 103,704,809 comes from the cover page of that same report (as of August 6, 2026) and not from the weighted average in the income statement. Price, market capitalization, 52-week range and analyst consensus carry a data date of September 4, 2026.
Risk of confusion: Aura Biosciences, Inc. (ticker AURA, CIK 0001501796) is not the same company as Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ticker AUPH). They are two legally and commercially separate businesses.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of September 8, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at AURA since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 5.00 $ to 8.90 $ · Last price: 6.60 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Biotechnology
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aura Biosciences Inc AURA | 0.7 | – | -5.7 | – | – | – | 8.0 |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc VRTX | 130.6 | 31.3 | 24.5 | 55.0 | 38.1 | 9.6 | 33.4 |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN | 82.0 | 19.9 | 13.1 | 44.5 | 20.7 | 1.0 | 35.5 |
| Moderna Inc MRNA | 62.7 | – | 4.6 | -66.0 | -131.1 | -39.2 | 532.3 |
| argenx NV ARGX | 61.9 | 38.1 | 34.2 | 59.1 | 32.0 | 89.6 | 30.9 |
| Revolution Medicines Inc RVMD | 40.9 | – | -9.7 | -174,708.6 | 0.0 | -100.0 | 338.3 |
| BeiGene, Ltd. ONC | 40.0 | 63.1 | 34.1 | 88.9 | 19.1 | 40.2 | 6.4 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc ALNY | 32.6 | 61.8 | 28.4 | 79.7 | 23.0 | 65.2 | -48.1 |
| Royalty Pharma Plc RPRX | 32.5 | 31.8 | 19.6 | 95.8 | 100.3 | 5.1 | 68.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 40.9 | 34.9 | 19.6 | 57.0 | 21.8 | 7.3 | 33.4 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 0 | -24 | -24 | -0.01 | -21 | 31 | 37 |
| 2020 | 0 | -22 | -22 | -0.76 | -24 | 19 | 22 |
| 2021 | 0 | -35 | -35 | -1.21 | -32 | 152 | 160 |
| 2022 | 0 | -60 | -59 | -1.96 | -55 | 196 | 224 |
| 2023 | 0 | -85 | -76 | -1.93 | -64 | 226 | 255 |
| 2024 | 0 | -96 | -87 | -1.75 | -80 | 152 | 183 |
| 2025 | 0 | -113 | -106 | -1.76 | -85 | 137 | 169 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -0.52 | – | 1 | -39.80 | -2,086.80 | -24 | -24 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.55 | – | 0 | -100.00 | – | -23 | -24 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.47 | – | 0 | – | – | -21 | -21 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.40 | – | 0 | – | – | -20 | -20 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.37 | – | 0 | -100.00 | – | -21 | -21 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.50 | – | 0 | – | – | -30 | -30 |
| 2026: Q2 | -0.48 | -2.10 | – | – | – | -33 | -33 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 6 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Momentum & Trend
Research
Risk & Weakness
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | -1.67 | -1.78 – -1.50 | 0 | – | 4 |
| 12/31/2027 | -1.52 | -1.70 – -1.15 | 5 | – | 4 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Geprüft am 08.09.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) für 2025 (eingereicht 30.03.2026), den Geschäftsbericht für 2024 (24.03.2025) sowie die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q) bis zum 30.06.2026 (eingereicht 11.08.2026): Aura Biosciences ist ein klinisches Biotechnologie-Unternehmen ohne Umsatz, dessen gesamtes Geschäft an dem virus-ähnlichen Wirkstoffkonjugat bel-sar hängt. Künstliche Intelligenz kommt in den Filings ausschließlich als Risikothema vor — als Cyberangriffs-Vektor gegen die eigenen Systeme und als Regulierungsrisiko (EU-KI-Verordnung, US-Bundesstaaten-Gesetze). Es gibt weder ein KI-Produkt noch eine KI-gestützte Wirkstoffsuche im beschriebenen Geschäftsmodell, weder KI-Umsatz noch einen operativen KI-Einsatz, der über allgemeine IT-Nutzung hinausgeht; ein KI-Wettbewerbsrisiko für das eigene Modell wird ebenfalls nicht benannt. Nach dem Kriterienkatalog bleibt es damit bei „neutral“.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that can impact our business including by posing security risks to our confidential information, proprietary information, and personal data."
Künstliche Intelligenz bringt Risiken und Herausforderungen mit sich, die unser Geschäft beeinträchtigen können, unter anderem durch Sicherheitsrisiken für unsere vertraulichen Informationen, unser geschütztes Wissen und personenbezogene Daten.
10-K · 2026-03-30 · View SEC filing
„In addition, the use of generative AI models in our internal or third-party systems may create new attack surfaces or methods for adversaries, which could impact us and our vendors."
Darüber hinaus kann die Nutzung generativer KI-Modelle in unseren eigenen oder in Systemen Dritter neue Angriffsflächen oder Angriffswege für Angreifer schaffen, was sich auf uns und unsere Zulieferer auswirken könnte.
10-K · 2026-03-30 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-08-11 · 10-Q 2026-05-11 · 10-Q 2025-11-13 · 10-Q 2025-08-13 · 10-K 2026-03-30 · 10-K 2025-03-24
Rated on September 8, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years no data
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 0.0%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 26.3%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") no data
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion no data
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 127 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 41 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago -74.7%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.1%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
1/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% –
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% –
- Net debt < 4x EBIT –
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 0
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% –
- Return on equity > 15% -77.6%
- ROCE > 15% -74.7%
- Expected return > 10% –
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Kratz Erica | Chief Reg. & Quality Officer | Other | 100,885 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Abu-Absi Susan | Chief Operating Officer | Other | 134,513 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Elazzouzi Amy | SVP, Finance & PAO | Other | 23,540 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Hopkins Janet Jill | Chief Medical Officer | Other | 58,850 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Person Julie | Chief People Officer | Other | 107,611 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Bender Jeremy | Director | Other | 30,000 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Aura Biosciences, Inc., ein Biotechnologieunternehmen in der klinischen Phase, entwickelt Präzisionstherapien zur Behandlung solider Tumore.
- Employees
- 113
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA
- Address
- 80 Guest Street, 02135 Boston, United States
- Phone
- 617 500 8864
- Website
- aurabiosciences.com
- IPO Date
- 10/29/2021
- ISIN
- US05153U1079
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| J. Jill Hopkins M.D. | Chief Medical Officer & President of Research and Development | 1965 |
| Natalie C. Holles | President, CEO & Director | 1973 |
| Amy Elazzouzi | Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and Secretary | 1974 |
| Susan Abu-Absi Ph.D. | Chief Operating Officer | – |
| Alex Dasalla | Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications | – |
| Julie Person | Chief People Officer | 1974 |
| Patrick Nealon | Senior Vice President of Clinical Development Operations | – |
| Anthony Daniels M.D. | VP & Therapeutic Area of Head Ocular Oncology | – |
| Erica Kratz Ph.D. | Chief Regulatory & Quality Officer | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/11/2026 Aura Biosciences, Inc. (AURA): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Cost Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities; Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/05/2026 Aura Biosciences, Inc. (AURA): Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders SEC ↗
- 07/08/2026 Aura Biosciences, Inc. (AURA): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.