On Hump Day, investors piled into CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP 9.29%) stock, sending its price more than 9% higher at the trading session's close. They were highly encouraged by the specialized healthcare company's latest quarterly earnings report, which was published after market hours Tuesday. That 9%-plus performance was in sharp contrast to the 0.3% decline of the S&P 500 index.

A double beat despite the drops

For its fourth quarter of 2024, CRISPR booked revenue of just under $36 million. That was well under the more than $201 million the company earned in the same period of 2023. On the bottom line, CRISPR flipped to a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss of $37 million ($0.44 per share) against a profit of $98 million in the year-ago quarter.

Even though both metrics worsened notably, they still came out well ahead of the consensus analyst estimates. On average, prognosticators tracking CRISPR stock were expecting the gene-editing company to post only $7.6 million for revenue and a far steeper net loss of $1.23 per share.

It's likely that 2024 as a whole will represent something of a lull in CRISPR's history. In its earnings report, management provided an update on the current state of the company, and this gave investors plenty of fuel for optimism.

Milestones in sight

Describing 2025 as a "milestone-rich year," the company is sure to see a wider rollout of Casgevy, the sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia medicine it developed in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The drug is also being tested for younger patients. In other news from the lab, it's continuing to develop efficacious therapies using its cutting-edge gene-editing technology.