Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Stock Price Down 7.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell about 7.5% to roughly $4.81 intraday on Wednesday, with ~15.16 million shares traded—slightly below the stock's ~15.53 million average daily volume.
• Analysts are split: the consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $8.88, while individual targets range widely (about $2 to $16) amid recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Iovance beat the latest quarter's EPS and revenue estimates (EPS -$0.18 vs. -$0.22; revenue $86.8M vs. $81.6M) but remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (~148%) and expected full‑year EPS around -1.24.

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) were down 7.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $4.83 and last traded at $4.8080. Approximately 15,158,119 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 15,530,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IOVA. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $2.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Iovance Biotherapeutics from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Chardan Capital dropped their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $2.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.88.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Down 7.4%

The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.53.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.61 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 148.41% and a negative return on equity of 54.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,161,445 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,041,000 after buying an additional 6,851,486 shares during the period. Palo Alto Investors LP lifted its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 122.1% in the third quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 7,618,132 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $16,531,000 after buying an additional 4,188,803 shares during the period. HRT Financial LP boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,078.3% during the 4th quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 4,356,010 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $11,891,000 after acquiring an additional 3,986,314 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,777,344 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $74,275,000 after acquiring an additional 3,148,096 shares during the period. 77.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company's lead product candidate, lifileucel (formerly LN‐144), is an autologous TIL therapy in late‐stage clinical development for patients with advanced melanoma. Iovance's pipeline also includes next‐generation TIL programs such as LN‐145 for cervical and other human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cancers, as well as exploratory studies in head and neck, non‐small cell lung, gastric and other solid tumor indications.

Iovance's TIL platform harnesses a patient's own immune system by isolating, expanding and reinfusing tumor‐reactive lymphocytes.

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