HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $15.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 63.40% from the stock’s current price. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for ImmunityBio’s FY2027 earnings at $0.10 EPS.

IBRX has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on ImmunityBio from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

ImmunityBio Stock Down 8.2%

IBRX traded down $0.82 on Thursday, hitting $9.18. 21,482,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,619,063. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.54 and a 200-day moving average of $7.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.46 and a beta of 0.02. ImmunityBio has a 12-month low of $1.95 and a 12-month high of $12.43.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $51.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.70 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that ImmunityBio will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cheryl Cohen sold 81,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $851,088.00. Following the sale, the director owned 100,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,244.50. This represents a 44.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry Simon sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $268,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,777,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,861,221. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 66.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ImmunityBio

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Doliver Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 110.0% in the third quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 210,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,287,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,207,000. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio during the 1st quarter valued at $18,770,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in ImmunityBio by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,083,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,399,000 after buying an additional 7,736,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about ImmunityBio

Here are the key news stories impacting ImmunityBio this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FDA expands ANKTIVA’s label: The FDA approved ANKTIVA in combination with BCG for patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with papillary-only tumors, in addition to the previously covered carcinoma-in-situ population. The broader label significantly increases the drug’s addressable market and commercial potential. FDA Expands ANKTIVA Approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Durable Phase 2/3 results support ANKTIVA: Long-term QUILT-3.032 data showed a 71% complete response rate in 100 patients, median response duration of 26.6 months, and responses lasting beyond 53 months. Among responding patients, three-year cystectomy-free survival was 84%, suggesting many may avoid bladder-removal surgery. ImmunityBio Phase 3 data article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating and raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $0.10 from $0.07, while maintaining a $15 price target. Jefferies also reportedly lifted its target to $14, indicating analysts see additional upside if ANKTIVA adoption accelerates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity turned unusually active: Traders purchased 26,656 call options, approximately 44% above average volume. This may reflect increased bullish speculation, but it does not guarantee sustained buying in the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain cautious despite the clinical breakthrough: IBRX declined as traders appeared to take profits following the FDA-related rally and evaluate whether the expanded approval and strong data can translate into rapid sales growth. The company remains loss-making, and its latest reported quarter missed the consensus EPS estimate.

About ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapies designed to activate and strengthen the body’s immune system against cancer and infectious diseases. The company combines cytokine-based therapies, vaccines, cellular therapies and other immune-modulating technologies in an effort to create durable treatment responses.

Its lead product, ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), is an interleukin-15 receptor agonist immune stimulator.