Wall Street Zen Downgrades Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) to Strong Sell

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Nkarta in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Nkarta from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore set a $9.00 target price on Nkarta in a research report on Monday, May 18th. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Nkarta to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Nkarta in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.20.

Nkarta Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NKTX opened at $2.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.58. Nkarta has a 12-month low of $1.70 and a 12-month high of $3.72. The firm has a market cap of $166.87 million, a PE ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 0.93.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.18). On average, research analysts expect that Nkarta will post -1.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nkarta

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Nkarta in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $283,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in Nkarta during the second quarter valued at $2,564,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Nkarta during the 2nd quarter worth $183,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Nkarta during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Forefront Analytics LLC purchased a new position in Nkarta in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

Key Nkarta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nkarta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel maintains a bullish view: Stifel Nicolaus lowered its price target from $11 to $10 but initiated or reaffirmed a “Buy” rating. The revised target still implies approximately 329% upside from the referenced $2.33 share price, providing a positive catalyst for Nkarta (NKTX). Ticker Report article
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut earnings estimates across the forecast period: The firm reduced its EPS forecasts for the third and fourth quarters of 2026 to losses of $0.46 and $0.48, respectively, and lowered its full-year estimates to losses of $1.86 in 2026, $2.26 in 2027, $1.76 in 2028, $1.53 in 2029 and $1.23 in 2030. These revisions indicate expectations for deeper or more persistent losses, which may pressure NKTX despite HC Wainwright retaining its “Buy” rating and $14 price target. MarketBeat analyst estimates article

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Leveraging proprietary activation and expansion technologies, Nkarta aims to harness the innate tumor-killing properties of NK cells while incorporating targeted immuno-engineering approaches to enhance safety, potency and persistence in patients. The company’s platform supports both allogeneic cell manufacturing and genetic modifications to generate chimeric antigen receptor-expressing NK cell candidates designed to address a range of hematologic and solid tumors.

Nkarta’s lead program, NKX019, is an anti-CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy in early-phase clinical trials for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.