Q1 EPS Estimate for Nektar Therapeutics Increased by Analyst

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) – Equities researchers at William Blair upped their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, March 13th. William Blair analyst A. Hsieh now forecasts that the biopharmaceutical company will post earnings per share of ($0.19) for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($0.22). William Blair has a “Market Perform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Nektar Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($0.72) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Nektar Therapeutics’ Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.19) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.19) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.19) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($0.75) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($0.87) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($0.88) EPS.

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

NKTR has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Nektar Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4.92.

Nektar Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NKTR opened at $0.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.36 million, a PE ratio of -1.05 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.07. Nektar Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.65 and a fifty-two week high of $1.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKTR. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 24.8% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 9,400,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870,904 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 7,810,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700,000 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,974,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242,841 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,910,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 583,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 11.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,345,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 355,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nektar Therapeutics

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 351,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,702.80. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $307,289.76. This trade represents a 13.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 118,591 shares of company stock worth $112,525. Corporate insiders own 3.71% 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.