ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.54, but opened at $8.05. ImmunityBio shares last traded at $7.6360, with a volume of 14,730,259 shares trading hands.

Key Stories Impacting ImmunityBio

Here are the key news stories impacting ImmunityBio this week:

• Positive Sentiment: European conditional approval for ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) in combination with BCG for BCG‑unresponsive NMIBC CIS expands the drug’s addressable market and gives ImmunityBio a commercial foothold across the EU. Business Wire: EU approval & commercial plans
• Positive Sentiment: ImmunityBio announced a distribution partnership with Accord Healthcare and opened an Irish subsidiary to support European launch — moves that should accelerate product rollout and reimbursement negotiations in key markets. Business Wire: Distribution & Irish subsidiary
• Positive Sentiment: ANKTIVA’s approvals now cover multiple jurisdictions (33 countries cited), and recent commercial traction (material revenue growth in FY25) supports a narrative of rapid international expansion. That momentum prompted the large intraday rally. Zacks: EU nod & expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentators note upside may continue in the near term on momentum and favorable estimate revisions, but this is dependent on execution of the EU launch and ongoing trial readouts. Zacks: momentum analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate moves (reports of a $505M convertible note change and a clinical trial for a lymphoma program) affect capital structure and pipeline optionality; impact on near‑term cash needs and dilution depends on future financing activity. MSN: convertible note & trial update
• Negative Sentiment: An investor class action investigation (Pomerantz) was announced, which can create legal risk, distraction and potential liabilities that investors dislike. GlobeNewswire: Pomerantz investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentary are questioning whether the rapid valuation expansion is justified; Seeking Alpha and Yahoo Finance flagged valuation risk and the sensitivity of the story to upcoming trial/readout and commercialization execution. That skepticism likely contributed to profit taking after the rally. Yahoo Finance: valuation questions

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IBRX. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. D. Boral Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research increased their target price on ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.80.

ImmunityBio Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.16 and a beta of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of ImmunityBio stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total transaction of $187,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 151,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.20, for a total value of $1,094,162.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,091,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,259,548.80. This trade represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 226,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,531,912. 69.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Slow Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Envision Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in ImmunityBio during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Summit X LLC bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio in the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s research platform centers on harnessing the power of the human immune system—through engineered T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, cytokine superagonists and viral-vectored vaccines—to target and eliminate diseased cells across a range of indications.

Among its lead assets is Anktiva (formerly known as N-803), an interleukin-15 superagonist designed to stimulate NK and T cell activity.