Nektar Gears Up to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

We expect investors to focus on updates related to Nektar Therapeutics’ NKTR pipeline development activities when the company reports its second-quarter 2025 results.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s top line is pegged at $10.8 million, while the same for the bottom line is pegged at a loss of $2.65 per share.

Year to date, shares of Nektar have rallied 64.6% compared with the industry’s rise of 4.9%.

Let’s see how things might have shaped up before the announcement.

Factors Shaping NKTR's Upcoming Results

Following the sale of the Huntsville manufacturing facility in December 2024, Nektar no longer records product revenues. The company’s top line currently comprises non-cash royalty revenues.

Revenues in the to-be-reported quarter are likely to have declined owing to lower non-cash royalty revenues.

Nektar’s lead pipeline candidate, rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), is being developed as a self-administered injection for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company regained full rights to rezpeg from pharma giant Eli Lilly LLY in April 2023 and took charge of its clinical development.

Rezpeg was earlier developed in collaboration with Lilly for several autoimmune indications.

Rezpeg is now a wholly owned asset of Nektar, and the company owes no royalty payments to LLY.

Two separate phase IIb studies are evaluating rezpeg for treating atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata.

Investors will be keen to get more updates related to the development progress of rezpeg on the upcoming earnings call.

In June 2025, NKTR announced that the phase IIb REZOLVE-AD study evaluating rezpeg, in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, met its primary and key secondary endpoints.

Besides atopic dermatitis, the company is also investigating rezpeg in the phase IIb REZOLVE-AA study for treating patients with severe-to-very severe alopecia areata. Top-line data from the same is expected in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Nektar is also planning to evaluate rezpeg in a phase II study in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus. The study is expected to start later this year.

Activities related to its pipeline development are likely to have escalated operating expenses in the to-be-reported quarter.

NKTR's Earnings Surprise History

Nektar has a disappointing history of earnings surprises. The company beat on earnings in one of the trailing four quarters while missing the same on the remaining three occasions, delivering a negative average surprise of 8.73%. In the last reported quarter, NKTR delivered a negative earnings surprise of 22.22%.

Nektar Therapeutics Price and EPS Surprise

Nektar Therapeutics price-eps-surprise | Nektar Therapeutics Quote

What Our Model Predicts for NKTR Stock

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Nektar this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is not the case here, as you will see below. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

NKTR’s Earnings ESP: Nektar has an Earnings ESP of -29.46% as the Most Accurate Estimate currently stands at a loss of $3.43 per share and the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of $2.65 per share.

NKTR’s Zacks Rank: Nektar has a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Here are a few stocks worth considering from the healthcare space, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

CorMedix CRMD has an Earnings ESP of +27.12% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present.

Shares of CRMD have surged 43.7% year to date. CorMedix beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 25.82%.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals AMRX has an Earnings ESP of +13.21% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Shares of AMRX have declined 1.2% year to date. AMRX beat on earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in the other one, delivering an average surprise of 14.34%. Amneal is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Aug. 5, before market open.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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