HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for NKTR Earnings

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) – Equities research analysts at HC Wainwright upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Nektar Therapeutics in a research note issued on Thursday, March 13th. HC Wainwright analyst A. He now forecasts that the biopharmaceutical company will post earnings per share of ($0.15) for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of ($0.17). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $6.50 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Nektar Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($0.72) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Nektar Therapeutics’ Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.15) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.17) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($0.68) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($0.86) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($0.79) EPS, FY2028 earnings at ($0.87) EPS and FY2029 earnings at ($0.52) EPS.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $29.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.65 million. Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 173.28% and a negative net margin of 180.70%.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on NKTR. B. Riley assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer raised Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.92.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $0.88 on Monday. Nektar Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.65 and a one year high of $1.93. The stock has a market cap of $162.36 million, a PE ratio of -1.05 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $0.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.07.

Insider Activity at Nektar Therapeutics

In other Nektar Therapeutics news, insider Jonathan Zalevsky sold 51,115 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.94, for a total transaction of $48,048.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,289.76. The trade was a 13.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark Andrew Wilson sold 33,402 shares of Nektar Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $30,061.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 351,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $316,702.80. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 118,591 shares of company stock worth $112,525. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nektar Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 650,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 34,599 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Valence8 US LP acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Nektar Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Nektar Therapeutics by 403.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 386,656 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 309,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer.