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Nektar Therapeutics

NKTR
24
Biotechnology · Healthcare
Also trades as: 0UNL.L GBP 0.37 (-0.78%)
Price
$37.22
-1.43 (-3.70%)
Market Cap
$1.07B
Exchange
NASDAQ
Winston Score
24
Winston is worried
Weak fundamentals across most pillars.
Data as of Oct 25, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026

§How the score breaks down

Quality
Mixed
10/30
Growth
Mixed
7/20
Cash Flow
Weak
0/10
Stability
Good
5/10
Valuation
Data not available
0/10
Ownership
Weak
1/15
Dividends
Not counted
n/a

23 of 95 counted points = Winston Score 24. Pillars marked n/a do not apply to this company and are left out of the total.

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Share count rising — dilution

+38.1% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 12.2M (2021) → 16.9M (2025)

§Winston Score History

The full picture

Nektar Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that designs and develops new medicines, mostly for pain, cancer, and immune system diseases. Its main approach involves a chemistry technology called PEGylation, which modifies drug molecules to make them work better or last longer in the body. The company has historically licensed this technology to larger pharmaceutical companies and also develops its own experimental drugs.

Nektar makes money in two main ways: collecting royalties and licensing fees from partners who use its PEGylation technology, and advancing its own drug pipeline toward potential approval. It operates primarily in the United States and is a relatively small player in the biotech industry. The near-perfect gross margin reflects its royalty-heavy revenue stream, but the deeply negative operating margin shows it spends far more on research than it currently earns. The biggest risk is that its pipeline drugs must succeed in clinical trials to justify the company's valuation, and drug development failures could significantly pressure the business.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-9.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

Reported EPS Growth

+58.3% YoY

Quarterly reporting periods ended:

30 Jun 2025: $-2.95

30 Jun 2026: $-1.23

Reported/statutory EPS, not adjusted or underlying earnings. One-off items can affect this figure. Provider rounding can affect the growth rate.

YoY Growth Rate

Reported EPS increased year over year

R&D Spend

$117M/ year

→ Flat (-3% vs prior year)

212.4% of revenue

11.8x the sector average (18%)

Steady R&D investment year-over-year

Insider Activity

0.0%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Runway

~3 years

$1.0B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

$1.0B cash & investments at current burn rate

Revenue declining

Nektar Therapeutics's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
100.0%
Premium pricing power — 100.0% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
-417.9%
Losing money on operations — -417.9%
Return on the money invested
ROCE
-12.6%
Weak — -12.6% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
-27.2%
Shrinking sales (-27.2% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
6/8 quarters
Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
-428.7%
Burning cash (-428.7%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.15
Conservative — low debt load (0.15)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
N/A
Data not available

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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