Nektar downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan - InvestingChannel

Nektar downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Jessica Fye downgraded Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) to Neutral from Overweight and cut her price target for the shares to $33 from $62. The stock in premarket trading is down 29%, or $8.67, to $20.90. The company disclosed a “string of negative updates” with its Q2 call, including no lung data at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting, manufacturing issues and identification of suboptimal production lots of bempegaldesleukin, and narrowing of the scope of the Bristol-Myers (BMY) collaboration to five or six key registrational trials, Fye tells investors in a research note. The analyst, who’s not sure which disclosure is most disappointing, says the combination leaves her with a more cautious near-term outlook on Nektar. It is difficult to identify a catalyst near-term to reverse the negative sentiment, Fye contends.