ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Trading 6.7% Higher Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Shares jumped 6.7% after ImmunityBio reported a Q loss per share of $0.06, beating the consensus loss of $0.08, with revenue of $38.29 million; intraday high was $10.98 and the stock last traded around $10.44.
• Wall Street sentiment is largely positive — six Buy ratings vs. one Sell, a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.60, with several firms raising targets (HC Wainwright to $15).
• Notable insider selling: insiders have sold 501,967 shares (~$4.47M) in the last 90 days, though insiders still own about 69.48% of the company’s stock.

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) rose 6.7% on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $10.98 and last traded at $10.44. Approximately 40,582,315 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 45,466,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.78.

The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $38.29 million for the quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on IBRX. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of ImmunityBio from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ImmunityBio news, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.01, for a total transaction of $900,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,850,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,238,360.21. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 501,967 shares of company stock worth $4,466,412 in the last ninety days. 69.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ImmunityBio

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBRX. Slow Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Envision Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in ImmunityBio during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Summit X LLC purchased a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in ImmunityBio in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 8.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ImmunityBio Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.47 and a beta of -0.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.39.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s research platform centers on harnessing the power of the human immune system—through engineered T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, cytokine superagonists and viral-vectored vaccines—to target and eliminate diseased cells across a range of indications.

Among its lead assets is Anktiva (formerly known as N-803), an interleukin-15 superagonist designed to stimulate NK and T cell activity.

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