Shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) jumped 1% in overnight trading Sunday as investors positioned ahead of Tuesday’s earnings, with fresh weekend buzz around Anktiva following founder Patrick Soon-Shiong’s media appearances.
IBRX stock jumped over 2% on Friday to $0.78 and added another 5% in after-hours trading.
ImmunityBio is set to report its full-year 2025 earnings on Tuesday, with expectations building that losses may narrow as the company scales commercialization of Anktiva, its lead immunotherapy.
Fiscal AI estimates for 2025 show an improvement across all metrics. Revenue is projected to rise to $113.29 million from $14.75 million in 2024, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) are expected to narrow to a loss of $256.03 million from $344.18 million a year ago. Loss per share is forecast to improve to $0.38 from $0.59 in 2024.
The company has already indicated strong commercial traction for Anktiva, recording $113 million in net product revenue for the drug in 2025, up 700% from the prior year, while fourth-quarter (Q4) revenue rose 431% to $38.3 million, topping Wall Street estimates of $37.8 million.
Despite higher research spending pushing Q4 net loss to $61.9 million from $59.2 million, full-year net loss attributable to common shareholders improved to $351.4 million from a loss of $413.6 million in 2024.
Over the weekend, founder and executive chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong amplified the scientific importance of Anktiva through a series of national media appearances, including an interview with Fox News Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier and participation in a live discussion with Christopher Cuomo on NewsNation.
Reflecting on conversations aired during a segment focused on cancer research and treatment, Soon-Shiong highlighted on X the importance of IL-15, the biological foundation of Anktiva, noting its ability to stimulate T cells, NK cells and memory T cells, which supports durable immune responses across multiple tumor types.
Soon-Shiong also pointed to remarks from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorities that a validated mechanism of action can support additional indications, and highlighted the agency’s “plausible mechanism of action” pathway as a means to accelerate access to therapies such as IL-15. He added that results from the company’s Quilt trials in lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers showed that IL-15 has the potential to generate long-term immune memory.
The founder also drew attention to combination approaches involving Anktiva and Merck’s Keytruda. He said checkpoint inhibitors such as Merck’s Keytruda work by removing the “brakes” on immune cells, while Anktiva helps grow and strengthen those immune cells. He said the combination could help patients respond if their cancer stops reacting to earlier immunotherapy.
ImmunityBio recently completed enrollment ahead of schedule in its Phase 2 Quilt 2.005 trial evaluating Anktiva combined with BCG in patients with early-stage bladder cancer who had not previously received standard BCG therapy.
The study enrolled 366 patients and an early FDA-requested review indicated improved outcomes with the combination. After six months, 85% of patients receiving Anktiva with BCG remained cancer-free compared with 57% treated with BCG alone. At nine months, 84% of patients on the combination showed no recurrence, compared with 52% on standard therapy.
The company expects to submit a biologics license application for the regimen by the fourth quarter of 2026. Anktiva is already approved in combination with BCG for bladder cancer in the U.S. and has also received authorizations in the UK, Europe and Saudi Arabia. Saudi regulators recently granted accelerated approval for the therapy in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for IBRX shifted from ‘extremely bullish’ to ‘bullish’ amid a 65% decline in 24-hour message volume.
One user noted that Keytruda currently generates more than $30 billion in annual sales and is set to face patent expiration in 2028, describing Anktiva as a “better” product that could benefit from that shift. They urged traders to “buy and hold” the stock.
Another user said, “I look forward to tomorrow's trading day. Things look promising for IBRX!!”
IBRX stock has skyrocketed nearly 400% year-to-date.
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