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: Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR)
Today’s penny stock pick is the biopharmaceutical company, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR).
Nektar Therapeutics 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 1B clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer.
It has collaboration agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; AstraZeneca AB; UCB Pharma S.A.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Bausch Health Companies Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Amgen Inc.; UCB Pharma (Biogen); Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Baxalta Incorporated; Eli Lilly and Company; Merck KGaA; and SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Website: https://www.nektar.com
Latest 10-k report: https://ir.nektar.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-k/0000906709-23-000004
Analyst Consensus: As per TipRanks Analytics, based on 3 Wall Street analysts offering 12-month price targets for NKTR in the last 3 months, the stock has an average price target of $2.83, which is nearly 178% upside from current levels.
Analysts | Source: TipRanks.com
Potential Catalysts / Reasons for the Hype:
- The company announced that efficacy data previously generated by Eli Lilly & Company for rezpegaldesleukin (REZPEG) that were presented at the September 2022 EADV Congress were incorrectly calculated by Lilly. The new and corrected data highlight the important potential of REZPEG to help patients battling atopic dermatitis (AtD), a chronic skin condition that afflicts nearly 10% of Americans.
- Nektar Therapeutics also recently announced a strategic plan to reprioritize assets and restructure costs.
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.
NKTR – Daily Chart
#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 looks like a good area for the stock to move higher.
NKTR – Weekly Chart
#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 NKTR is above the price of $1.08.
Target Prices: Our first target is $1.35. If it closes above that level, the second target price is $1.65.
Stop Loss: To limit risk, place a stop loss at $0.90. Note that the stop loss is on a closing basis.
Our target potential upside is 25% to 53%.
For a risk of $0.18, our first target reward is $0.27, and the second target reward is $0.57. 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:
- The company has a history of net losses. For the year ended December 31, 2022, NKTR reported a net loss of $368.2 million.
NKTR – Consolidated Statements of Operations
- Corporate Insiders Sold Shares Worth $21.7K in the Last 3 Months.
- Hedge Funds Decreased Holdings by 4.3M Shares Last Quarter.
Hedge Funds | Source: TipRanks.com
- Despite being a loss-making company, the executives are being paid significant compensation.
NKTR – 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.
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