Barclays has opened coverage on Cytokinetics (NASDAQ: CYTK), assigning an Overweight rating and setting a price target of $87.00 - a level Barclays calculates as about 36% above the most recent quoted price of $64.01. The initiation comes amid heightened market attention following the company’s commercial introduction of Myqorzo.
The equity has already climbed sharply in recent months. According to InvestingPro data, CYTK has advanced approximately 75% over the last six months, reflecting investor focus on the company’s recent regulatory milestone and ensuing commercialization activity.
Barclays highlighted specific attributes of Myqorzo’s approved label that it believes support a differentiated commercial profile. Those features include flexibility in dose titration, reduced requirements for echocardiogram monitoring, and the absence of a drug-drug interaction called out in the Box Warning. Barclays noted these label characteristics as factors that could make Myqorzo a preferred option over an existing alternative, Camzyos, for patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - abbreviated oHCM in clinical literature.
Beyond the initial launch, Barclays also pointed to the company’s Phase 3 ACACIA study assessing Myqorzo in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - nHCM - with topline data expected in the second quarter of 2026. The research firm described the trial as having dual primary endpoints: the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Clinical Summary Score (KCCQ-CSS) and peak oxygen consumption (pVO2). Barclays assigned probability estimates to those endpoints - greater than 75% for KCCQ-CSS and greater than 55% for pVO2 - and observed that a successful outcome across these endpoints could position aficamten as the only medicine approved to treat both obstructive and non-obstructive forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Market reaction and analyst positioning have been active since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Myqorzo for oHCM. Cytokinetics has indicated a launch price for Myqorzo near $103,000 per year, consistent with the pricing level for peer therapies.
Several research firms have adjusted their valuations following the approval and launch. Needham raised its target to $84; H.C. Wainwright moved its target to $136, citing the drug’s differentiated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS); RBC Capital increased its target to $95, noting the favorable label and REMS features; Jefferies raised its target to $90 and emphasized the importance of the ACACIA Phase 3 study in nHCM; and Truist Securities reiterated a Buy rating with an $84 target, pointing to a growing clinical preference for Myqorzo relative to a competitor.
Collectively, the analysts’ revisions and Barclays’ coverage initiation reflect broad analyst attention to Cytokinetics’ commercial launch, label features, REMS considerations, and the pivotal ACACIA trial timeline. Investors and market participants will be monitoring the company’s commercialization progress and the upcoming clinical readout expected in the second quarter of 2026.