This High Risk / High Reward Stock Just Broke Out on Strong Volume

We recently started a series called “Penny Stock of the Day”. These ideas are geared towards traders with an extremely high risk appetite.

Our Penny Stock of the Day is chosen by screening for stocks under $5 and then applying technical analysis on the shortlisted set of penny stocks showing unusual volume. When making these trades, please make sure to pay vigilant attention to pricing moves and have a strict stop loss in place to avoid significant losses.

Penny Stock of the Day: Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE)

Today’s penny stock pick is the clinical-stage oncology company, Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE).

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. develops therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. It operates through two segments, Sorrento Therapeutics and Scilex. The company provides cancer therapeutic by leveraging its proprietary G-MAB antibody library and targeted delivery modalities, which include chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), dimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and antibody drug conjugate, as well as bispecific antibody approach; and Sofusa, a drug delivery technology that deliver biologic directly into the lymphatic system.

Its clinical programs in development include anti-CD38 CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, as well as for amyloidosis and graft versus host disease. The company develops resiniferatoxin, a non-opioid-based TRPV1 agonist neurotoxin for late stage cancer and osteoarthritis knee pain treatment; and ZTlido, a lidocaine delivery system for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.

It engages in the development of SEMDEXA, an injectable viscous gel formulation, which is Phase III trial for the treatment of sciatica, a pathology of low back pain; SP-103, an investigational non-aqueous lidocaine topical system undergoing clinical development in chronic low back pain condition; and SP-104, a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride formulation for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

It has collaboration with SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. to develop gene-encoded antibody vaccine to protect against COVID-19; Celularity, Inc. for initiating Phase I/II clinical study, including up to 94 patients with COVID-19; Mount Sinai Health System to develop COVI-SHIELD, an antibody therapy targeting SARS-CoV-2 infection; and Mayo Clinic for Phase Ib pilot study using sofusa lymphatic drug delivery technology to deliver Ipilimumab in patient with melanoma.

Website:  www.sorrentotherapeutics.com

Latest 10-k report:  https://sec.report/Document/0000950170-22-003472/

Analyst Consensus: As per TipRanks Analytics, based on 2 Wall Street analysts offering 12-month price targets for SRNE in the last 3 months, the stock has an average price target of $18.00, which is nearly 765% upside from current levels.

Potential Catalysts / Reasons for the Hype:

• The company entered into a license and commercialization agreement with RxOmeg Therapeutics LLC, a/k/a Romeg Therapeutics, LLC (ROMEG) for the exclusive right to market and distribute in the US Gloperba, an oral solution for adults suffering from gout.
• SRNE’s total revenue increased 29% year-over-year to $18.39 million for the first quarter ending March 31, 2022. The cash and cash equivalents increased 205.2% from its year-ago value to $111.91 million for three months ending March 31, 2022, while its net cash flow provided by financing activities amounted to $173.37 million.
  

  SRNE – Consolidated Statements of Operations_10Q

• Corporate Insiders Bought Shares Worth $13.9K in the Last 3 Months.
  

  Insiders | Source: TipRanks.com

On analyzing the company’s stock charts, there seem to be multiple bullish indications…

Bullish Indications

#1 Falling Wedge Pattern Breakout: The daily chart shows that the stock has been forming a falling wedge pattern for the past several months. These are marked as purple color lines. It has typically taken support at the bottom of the wedge before bouncing back. The stock has currently broken out from the falling wedge pattern. Once the stock breaks out of the falling wedge pattern, it could move higher.

#2 Bullish ADX and DI: The ADX indicator shows bullishness as the +DI line is above the -DI line, and the ADX line is currently moving higher from below the +DI and -DI lines.

#3 Price above MA: The stock is currently above its 50-day SMA, indicating that the bulls have currently gained control.

#4 Bullish Stoch:  The %K line of the stochastic is above the %D line, and has also moved higher from oversold levels, indicating possible bullishness.

#5 MACD above Signal Line: In the daily chart, the MACD (light blue color) is currently above the MACD signal line (orange color). This indicates a possible bullish setup.

#6 Above Support Area: The weekly chart shows that the stock is currently trading above a support area, which is marked as a pink color dotted line. This is a possible bullish indication.

#7 Bullish Stoch: The %K line is above the %D line of the stochastic in the weekly chart as well, indicating possible bullishness.

#8 MACD above Signal Line: In the weekly chart, the MACD (light blue color) is currently above the MACD signal line (orange color). This indicates a possible bullish setup.

Recommended Trade (based on the charts)

Buy Levels: If you want to get in on this trade, the ideal buy level for SRNE is above the price of $2.20.

Target Prices: Our first target is $3.50. If it closes above that level, the second target price is $4.20.

Stop Loss: To limit risk, place a stop loss at $1.50. Note that the stop loss is on a closing basis.

Our target potential upside is 59% to 91%.

For a risk of $0.70, our first target reward is $1.30, and the second target reward is $2.00. This is a nearly 1:2 and 1:3 risk-reward trade.

In other words, this trade offers 2x to 3x more potential upside than downside.

Potential Risks / Red Flags:

1. The company has a history of net losses. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $429.1 million as compared to a net loss of $314.4 million for 2020.
   

   SRNE – Consolidated Statements of Operations_10K

2. Hedge Funds Decreased Holdings by 750.0K Shares Last Quarter.
   

   Hedge Funds | Source: TipRanks.com

3. There are multiple ongoing legal proceedings.
   1. On May 26, 2020, Wasa Medical Holdings filed a putative federal securities class action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Case No. 3:20-cv-00966-AJB-DEB, against the Company, its President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Henry Ji, Ph.D., and its SVP of Regulatory Affairs, Mark R. Brunswick, Ph.D. The action alleges that the Company, Dr. Ji and Dr. Brunswick made materially false and/or misleading statements to the investing public by publicly issuing false and/or misleading statements regarding STI-1499 and its ability to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and that such statements violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
   2. On July 26, 2021, Sachin Chaudhari filed a verified stockholder derivative complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Case No. 0723211, against Dr. Ji, Mr. Brunswick, and the Company’s Board of Directors as defendants, and against the Company, as a nominal defendant. The action alleges, among other things, that defendants breached their fiduciary duties, violated Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, engaged in waste and were unjustly enriched in connection with the alleged false and misleading statements to the investing public by publicly issuing false and/or misleading statements regarding STI-1499 and its ability to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.
4. Despite being a loss-making company, the executives are being paid multi-millions as compensation.
   

   SRNE – Executive Compensation

As you can see, today’s featured penny stock offers big upside potential… but it also comes with a number of risks and red flags. As always, when dealing with penny stocks, we advise caution before entering into such high-risk ventures. Remember to think before you trade… understand the risks… and if you decide to trade, stick to your stop-losses!

Happy Trading!

— Trades of the Day Research Team

READ BEFORE TRADING PENNY STOCKS: The allure of penny stocks lies in their potential to deliver massive gains in a short period of time. However, in exchange for that opportunity, most penny stocks carry tremendous risk. They can be extremely volatile and are susceptible to “pump and dump” schemes and fraud.

Unlike regular stocks, the financial condition of most penny stock companies can be extremely difficult to analyze, as the majority of such stocks are traded on over-the-counter (OTC) exchanges, which are typically less transparent and less regulated than the major exchanges. In fact, in the penny stock space, it’s often easier to spot warning signs and red flags than it is to identify a sound investment. Nevertheless, we do our best to identify short-term trade opportunities in this exciting space because we know some of our readers are looking for high-risk, high-reward ideas. We just urge you to make sure you fully understand the risks before making any of these trades.