Goldman Sachs sees over 60% upside in small-cap biotech Vera Therapeutics

Goldman Sachs values the small-cap biotech company Vera Therapeutics at $58.00 per share, more than 60% above the current market price, as Vera’s drug candidate for autoimmune kidney diseases has shown promising results in clinical trials and is likely to hit the market next year.

Details

Goldman Sachs analyst Paul Choi values Vera at $58.00 per share, as reported by CNBC. This is 61% above the current market price: Yesterday, Tuesday, January 28, the stock closed at $35.98 per share.

Vera is conducting the final, phase III clinical trials for atacicept, its drug for progressive IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune kidney disease. The company is also studying its effects on lupus nephritis, which about half of lupus patients develop, according to the MSD Manual.

Choi expects atacicept to hit the market next year and gain traction in the latter half of the decade given its advantages over peers. He rates Vera a «buy.»

«Following the recent pullback, we see Vera shares at an attractive entry point given [that] atacicept is largely de-risked with line of sight to commercialization starting next year,» Choi wrote, as quoted by CNBC.

Vera has dropped 27% from its peak on March 1, 2024, when it closed at $49.14 per share. It is down just over 14% since the start of 2025 but still up 19% over the last 12 months.

According to MarketWatch, out of the 12 analysts covering Vera, 11 have «buy» recommendations and one has it as a «hold.» Their average target price of $67.33 per share implies upside of more than 87%.

About Vera Therapeutics

Vera is developing treatments for autoimmune kidney diseases. In addition to atacicept, its pipeline includes the MAU868 antibody, acquired from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. MAU868 targets infections caused by the common BK virus, which infects most people in childhood but can reactivate when the immune system is weakened, such as after kidney or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as noted by the company. 

Vera has yet to make a profit. In the third quarter of 2024, the company reported a net loss of $46.6 million. It funds operations in part through equity raises: In October, the company brought in about $345 million in a stock offering.