Why Nektar Therapeutics Stock Dived by 3% Today
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Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR -5. 21%) saw its stock price erode on Thursday, ing the company's closing of a secondary stock issue. Investors gave the company a thumbs-down on the news by...
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July 3, 2025
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Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR -5. 21%) saw its stock price erode on Thursday, ing the company's closing of a secondary stock issue
Investors gave the company a thumbs-down on the news by selling out of its s, leaving it with a 3% loss at the close of trading
Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 index ticked up on the day, rising by 0
Capital raise, sentiment drop Just after market hours on Wednesday, Nektar announced that it that new flotation
The clinical-stage bio sold slightly more than 4. 89 million s of its common stock
Within that number were 638,298 that were sold to the underwriters of the issue
Collectively, those entities fully exercised their option to buy Nektar stock
Image source: Getty Images
The gross ceeds of the issue, which was priced at $23. 50 per, amounted to roughly $115 million
Nektar wrote that it aims to deploy the new funds for "general corporate purposes," which might include drug development and manufacturing, and re and development activities
As often happens with secondary flotations, particularly in the frequently cash-hungry bio space, this one is notably dilutive to existing holders
Prior to this issue, Nektar had slightly more than 12. 4 million common s outstanding
So that nearly 5 million -count addition is going to make a difference -- and not in a positive way
Skin in the game At least the money is being raised by a with potential
Relatively speaking, Nektar has quite a few pipeline jects in development
Its leading one, rezpegaldesleukin, recently tested quite well for treating moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, a skin disorder
That said, the new s are weighing on the company, and investors are bably worried that more equity offerings are coming, hence more dilution
While a company's count shouldn't be the only consideration when evaluating a stock, it does matter, and this one from Nektar has sparked concern
Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned
The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned
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