Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $185.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 302.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on NKTR. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NKTR opened at $45.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.25. Nektar Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $33.40 and a 1 year high of $109.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.26.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.97) by $0.74. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 287.84% and a negative return on equity of 37.87%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nektar Therapeutics will post -8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Howard Robin sold 418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total value of $30,087.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 54,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,932,051.46. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BVF Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,559,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $65,940,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new stake in Nektar Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,506,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 122.4% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,199,000 after acquiring an additional 328,000 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 112.7% in the 2nd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 473,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after acquiring an additional 250,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sofinnova Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 270.4% in the 4th quarter. Sofinnova Investments Inc. now owns 438,630 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $18,545,000 after acquiring an additional 320,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Nektar Therapeutics News

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

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating and assigned a $185 price target, implying substantial potential upside from the recent trading level. The bullish view reflects confidence in rezpegaldesleukin and Nektar’s broader pipeline.
• Positive Sentiment: New Phase 2b data showed durable treatment benefits in alopecia areata and atopic dermatitis. In alopecia areata, 75% of patients who reached a SALT score of 20 or less maintained that response four months after treatment, while 63% maintained it after six months. Hair regrowth continued during the off-treatment period, supporting the potential for a lasting treatment effect. New Rezpegaldesleukin Data Supporting Long-term Durability and Disease Improvement
• Neutral Sentiment: Nektar has expanded its late-stage development plans, initiating a third Phase 3 study in treatment-experienced atopic dermatitis patients and planning to begin the Phase 3 ZENITH-AA alopecia areata study in early 2027. These milestones improve the long-term opportunity but also highlight that regulatory approval and commercial revenue remain several steps away. Nektar Reports Durable Rezpegaldesleukin Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Earlier biomarker results showed that rezpegaldesleukin affected multiple immune pathways as soon as Week 2, with changes correlating with later clinical improvement. The findings support the drug’s mechanism but are not, by themselves, evidence of approval or commercial success. New Biomarker Data for Rezpegaldesleukin
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the encouraging results, NKTR shares decreased as investors appeared to focus on the data being Phase 2b, the need for additional Phase 3 testing, and uncertainty over how durable the benefits will be across a broad patient population. Elevated options activity has likely amplified the stock’s volatility.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that use the body’s immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s research programs are based on proprietary drug-design and immunology technologies intended to improve the activity, targeting, or dosing of therapeutic agents.

Nektar’s pipeline has included NKTR-255, an investigational interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to activate natural killer cells and support antitumor immune responses.