Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.50.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NKTR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 28th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Nektar Therapeutics Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NKTR stock opened at $74.19 on Friday. Nektar Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $33.40 and a 12-month high of $109.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.09. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of -11.07 and a beta of 1.14.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.87% and a negative net margin of 287.84%.The firm had revenue of $10.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Nektar Therapeutics News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Nektar Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its estimated loss for the third quarter of 2026 to $2.45 per share from $3.05, reduced the expected fourth-quarter 2026 loss to $3.07 from $3.26, and improved its full-year 2026 estimate to a loss of $8.58 per share from $10.59. The firm also narrowed its projected first-quarter 2027 loss to $3.17 from $3.41.
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the near-term improvements, Nektar remains expected to report significant losses. The current consensus estimate is a full-year 2026 loss of $8.51 per share, while Zacks projects losses of $16.15 per share for 2027 and $17.77 per share for 2028.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its estimates for several later periods, including the second quarter of 2027 to a loss of $3.06 per share from $2.79, the third quarter of 2027 to $4.28 from $3.45, the fourth quarter of 2027 to $5.65 from $3.63, the second quarter of 2028 to $3.82 from $2.85, and full-year 2027 to $16.15 from $13.28.
• Negative Sentiment: The most pronounced revision was to full-year 2028, with Zacks increasing its projected loss to $17.77 per share from $14.02. These longer-term reductions suggest analysts expect Nektar’s profitability and cash-burn outlook to remain under pressure, weighing on investor sentiment.

Insider Transactions at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $30,087.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,932,051.46. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 5,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $397,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,756 shares in the company, valued at $682,920. This represents a 36.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,823 shares of company stock valued at $1,380,558. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 8,374.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,430,784 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $169,693,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,102 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $5,942,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $650,000. Braidwell LP lifted its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% during the second quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 250,916 shares during the period. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $234,000. 75.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel drug candidates through its proprietary chemistry and immunology platforms. The company focuses on polymer conjugate technology, which enables the creation of longer-acting versions of existing drugs, and on T-cell modulatory therapies aimed at harnessing the body’s immune system to treat cancer and other serious diseases.

Nektar’s product portfolio and pipeline include a range of clinical-stage and partnered programs.