Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 18th, 2026

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX – Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 26,656 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average volume of 18,485 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBRX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on ImmunityBio from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ImmunityBio currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on IBRX

ImmunityBio Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IBRX opened at $9.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.46 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.96. ImmunityBio has a 1 year low of $1.95 and a 1 year high of $12.43.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $51.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.70 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ImmunityBio will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about ImmunityBio

Here are the key news stories impacting ImmunityBio this week:

Positive Sentiment: FDA expands ANKTIVA’s label: The FDA approved ANKTIVA in combination with BCG for patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with papillary-only tumors, in addition to the previously covered carcinoma-in-situ population. The broader label significantly increases the drug’s addressable market and commercial potential. FDA Expands ANKTIVA Approval article
Positive Sentiment: Durable Phase 2/3 results support ANKTIVA: Long-term QUILT-3.032 data showed a 71% complete response rate in 100 patients, median response duration of 26.6 months, and responses lasting beyond 53 months. Among responding patients, three-year cystectomy-free survival was 84%, suggesting many may avoid bladder-removal surgery. ImmunityBio Phase 3 data article
Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating and raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $0.10 from $0.07, while maintaining a $15 price target. Jefferies also reportedly lifted its target to $14, indicating analysts see additional upside if ANKTIVA adoption accelerates.
Neutral Sentiment: Options activity turned unusually active: Traders purchased 26,656 call options, approximately 44% above average volume. This may reflect increased bullish speculation, but it does not guarantee sustained buying in the shares.
Negative Sentiment: Investors remain cautious despite the clinical breakthrough: IBRX declined as traders appeared to take profits following the FDA-related rally and evaluate whether the expanded approval and strong data can translate into rapid sales growth. The company remains loss-making, and its latest reported quarter missed the consensus EPS estimate.

Insider Transactions at ImmunityBio

In other news, Director Cheryl Cohen sold 81,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $851,088.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 100,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,244.50. This represents a 44.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total transaction of $268,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,777,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,861,221. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 66.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ImmunityBio

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IBRX. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,083,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,399,000 after buying an additional 7,736,819 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,398,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,343,000 after buying an additional 3,690,335 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in ImmunityBio in the 2nd quarter worth $19,125,000. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio during the first quarter worth about $18,770,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 923.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,648,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,644,000 after buying an additional 1,487,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

About ImmunityBio

(Get Free Report)

ImmunityBio, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapies designed to activate and strengthen the body’s immune system against cancer and infectious diseases. The company combines cytokine-based therapies, vaccines, cellular therapies and other immune-modulating technologies in an effort to create durable treatment responses.

Its lead product, ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), is an interleukin-15 receptor agonist immune stimulator.