Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Nektar Therapeutics is favorably positioned because rezpegaldesleukin continues to show a differentiated efficacy-and-durability profile in both atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata, including 71% nine-month EASI-75 maintenance after a 12-week AD course and 83% EASI-75 maintenance on Q12W dosing through Week 52. The 52-week data are especially important because the upcoming ZENITH-AA and REZOLVE-AD readouts are designed around longer exposure, while the company’s market research with 151 prescribers and KOLs highlights strong interest in a safer, easier-to-use alternative to JAK inhibitors in a large AD market of >15M moderate-to-severe patients and ~700k severe AA patients in the US. Financially, the $90M jury award against LLY should help remove a major litigation overhang, allowing investors to focus on the clinical program, where the stock’s ~21% decline since the trial began appears disconnected from the underlying data.

Nektar Therapeutics is viewed negatively because the stock appears to lack meaningful near-term catalysts, with limited upside drivers expected before Phase 3 ZENITH-AD topline data in mid-2028 and only less stock-moving events in early 2027 and 2027. The company’s enterprise value has fallen to about $565M, while 2Q26 cash and investments of $1.02B cover roughly 64% of the market cap, signaling distress-driven valuation rather than durable fundamental strength. Although REZPEG’s safety data remain clean, the investment case is constrained by commercialization uncertainty, M&A risk cooling after Sanofi’s October 1 deal with Regeneron, and ongoing clinical, regulatory, commercial, competition, and dilution risks.