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KROS Stock Surges 85.6% in a Year: More Upside Potential in 2026?
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Key Takeaways
KROS surged 85.6% in the past year, beating its industry and sector after announcing a review.
Keros Therapeutics advanced KER-065 for DMD, reported phase I results and gained FDA orphan status.
KROS partnered with Takeda on elritercept, started a phase III study and received a $10M milestone.
Keros Therapeutics (KROS - Free Report) has put a strong performance in the past year. Shares of the company have skyrocketed 85.6% in this time frame compared with the industry’s gain of 18.8%. The stock has also outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 Index.
Momentum accelerated after the clinical-stage biotech company announced a strategic review aimed at maximizing stockholder value. Investor enthusiasm has been further supported by encouraging progress across Keros’ development pipeline.
KROS Outperforms Industry, Sector and S&P 500 Index
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Given this backdrop, a closer examination of the company’s key strengths and potential weaknesses can help determine its appeal as an investment opportunity.
Keros Makes Encouraging Pipeline Progress
KROS is focused on developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat a wide range of patients with disorders that are linked to dysfunctional signaling of the transforming growth factor-beta, or TGF-ß, family of proteins.
The recent pipeline progress has been encouraging. Lead product candidate, KER-065, is designed to bind to and inhibit TGF-ß ligands, including myostatin (GDF8) and activin A, which are negative regulators of muscle and bone mass and strength. The company is advancing KER-065 for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders, initially targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
In March 2025, Keros reported initial top-line results from a phase I study of KER-065 in healthy volunteers. In August 2025, it announced that the FDA granted orphan drug designation for KER-065 for the treatment of DMD.
The company plans to begin a phase II trial in patients with DMD in the first quarter of 2026 and explore additional indications where KER-065’s mechanism of action is believed to have a strong potential for clinical success.
In December 2024, Keros Therapeutics entered into an exclusive license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TAK - Free Report) to develop, manufacture, and commercialize its second pipeline candidate elritercept worldwide, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The agreement, which turned effective on Jan. 16, 2025, provides Keros with funds in the form of milestone payments.
A phase III study, RENEW, is evaluating elritercept for the treatment of anemia and thrombocytopenia in patients with very low-, low-, or intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
In July 2025, the company announced that the first patient had been dosed in the RENEW study, triggering a $10 million milestone payment to Keros under its global licensing agreement with Takeda.
Another phase II study, RESTORE, is evaluating elritercept in patients with myelofibrosis-associated cytopenias.
KROS’ Efforts to Use Resources Prudently Boost Sentiment
Keros has taken deliberate steps to sharpen its strategic focus and strengthen capital efficiency. The company was previously advancing cibotercept for pulmonary arterial hypertension, but in August 2025, it discontinued the program and redirected resources toward its lead asset, KER-065, which currently appears to offer more compelling potential.
To support this realignment, management implemented a workforce reduction of approximately 45%, resulting in a streamlined organization of about 85 full-time employees. These actions are expected to generate average annualized cost savings of roughly $17 million. In parallel, Keros announced board and leadership changes in August 2025, aimed at reinforcing a leaner operating structure and tighter strategic execution.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had $693.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. After accounting for $375.0 million of excess capital that the board has committed to return to stockholders, management expects the remaining cash to be sufficient to fund operating and capital expenditure needs into the first half of 2028.
KROS’ Valuation and Estimate Movement
Going by the price/book ratio, KROS is quite inexpensive. Shares currently trade at 0.85x tangible book value, lower than the industry’s average of 3.56X and its mean of 4.03X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased to $2.25 from $2.02 over the past 60 days. The loss per share estimate for 2026 has narrowed to $3.47 from $3.65.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Invest in KROS Stock
Selecting a winning stock in the highly volatile biotech sector is inherently challenging, as it often takes many years for companies to achieve profitability. Biotechnology companies typically commit hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, to the development of innovative therapies, leading to substantial research and development expenditures.
As a result, investors in clinical-stage companies primarily base their decisions on the strength of the pipeline and its long-term potential. DMD is itself a particularly competitive and complex therapeutic area. Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT - Free Report) is formidable player in this space with a strong DMD franchise that includes exon-skipping therapies, such as Elevidys, Exondys 51, Vyondys 53 and Amondys 45.
Keros has made notable progress with its lead DMD candidate. Any positive clinical or regulatory updates related to KER-065 could serve as a meaningful catalyst and provide a significant upside driver for KROS shares.
KROS sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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KROS Stock Surges 85.6% in a Year: More Upside Potential in 2026?
Key Takeaways
Keros Therapeutics (KROS - Free Report) has put a strong performance in the past year. Shares of the company have skyrocketed 85.6% in this time frame compared with the industry’s gain of 18.8%. The stock has also outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 Index.
Momentum accelerated after the clinical-stage biotech company announced a strategic review aimed at maximizing stockholder value. Investor enthusiasm has been further supported by encouraging progress across Keros’ development pipeline.
KROS Outperforms Industry, Sector and S&P 500 Index
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Given this backdrop, a closer examination of the company’s key strengths and potential weaknesses can help determine its appeal as an investment opportunity.
Keros Makes Encouraging Pipeline Progress
KROS is focused on developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat a wide range of patients with disorders that are linked to dysfunctional signaling of the transforming growth factor-beta, or TGF-ß, family of proteins.
The recent pipeline progress has been encouraging. Lead product candidate, KER-065, is designed to bind to and inhibit TGF-ß ligands, including myostatin (GDF8) and activin A, which are negative regulators of muscle and bone mass and strength. The company is advancing KER-065 for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders, initially targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
In March 2025, Keros reported initial top-line results from a phase I study of KER-065 in healthy volunteers. In August 2025, it announced that the FDA granted orphan drug designation for KER-065 for the treatment of DMD.
The company plans to begin a phase II trial in patients with DMD in the first quarter of 2026 and explore additional indications where KER-065’s mechanism of action is believed to have a strong potential for clinical success.
In December 2024, Keros Therapeutics entered into an exclusive license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TAK - Free Report) to develop, manufacture, and commercialize its second pipeline candidate elritercept worldwide, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The agreement, which turned effective on Jan. 16, 2025, provides Keros with funds in the form of milestone payments.
A phase III study, RENEW, is evaluating elritercept for the treatment of anemia and thrombocytopenia in patients with very low-, low-, or intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
In July 2025, the company announced that the first patient had been dosed in the RENEW study, triggering a $10 million milestone payment to Keros under its global licensing agreement with Takeda.
Another phase II study, RESTORE, is evaluating elritercept in patients with myelofibrosis-associated cytopenias.
KROS’ Efforts to Use Resources Prudently Boost Sentiment
Keros has taken deliberate steps to sharpen its strategic focus and strengthen capital efficiency. The company was previously advancing cibotercept for pulmonary arterial hypertension, but in August 2025, it discontinued the program and redirected resources toward its lead asset, KER-065, which currently appears to offer more compelling potential.
To support this realignment, management implemented a workforce reduction of approximately 45%, resulting in a streamlined organization of about 85 full-time employees. These actions are expected to generate average annualized cost savings of roughly $17 million. In parallel, Keros announced board and leadership changes in August 2025, aimed at reinforcing a leaner operating structure and tighter strategic execution.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had $693.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. After accounting for $375.0 million of excess capital that the board has committed to return to stockholders, management expects the remaining cash to be sufficient to fund operating and capital expenditure needs into the first half of 2028.
KROS’ Valuation and Estimate Movement
Going by the price/book ratio, KROS is quite inexpensive. Shares currently trade at 0.85x tangible book value, lower than the industry’s average of 3.56X and its mean of 4.03X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased to $2.25 from $2.02 over the past 60 days. The loss per share estimate for 2026 has narrowed to $3.47 from $3.65.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Invest in KROS Stock
Selecting a winning stock in the highly volatile biotech sector is inherently challenging, as it often takes many years for companies to achieve profitability. Biotechnology companies typically commit hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, to the development of innovative therapies, leading to substantial research and development expenditures.
As a result, investors in clinical-stage companies primarily base their decisions on the strength of the pipeline and its long-term potential. DMD is itself a particularly competitive and complex therapeutic area. Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT - Free Report) is formidable player in this space with a strong DMD franchise that includes exon-skipping therapies, such as Elevidys, Exondys 51, Vyondys 53 and Amondys 45.
Keros has made notable progress with its lead DMD candidate. Any positive clinical or regulatory updates related to KER-065 could serve as a meaningful catalyst and provide a significant upside driver for KROS shares.
KROS sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.