New York, February 17, 2026, 05:13 EST — Premarket
- ImmunityBio bounced nearly 7% ahead of the bell, clawing back after Friday’s sharp decline.
- Trading picks back up in the U.S. after the Presidents Day break—early action often gets skewed on these post-holiday sessions.
- Eyes are on Anktiva with oncology events set for late February and a quarterly update approaching. Investors are looking for new signals.
Shares of ImmunityBio Inc (IBRX.O) climbed roughly 7% to $6.37 ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, rebounding from Friday’s $5.95 close. Only about 79,000 shares had traded early.
U.S. stock and options trading resumes following the Presidents Day holiday closure on Monday, according to Nasdaq’s calendar. Early premarket trading often sees thinner liquidity, leaving the door open for sharper swings in either direction.
ImmunityBio shares have been all over the place lately, even by biotech norms. On Friday, the stock ended down 10.2%, having ranged from $7.30 to $5.94 during the session, according to data.
The company on Monday spotlighted a radio segment with executive chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong, posting the link in its news section. Discussion focused on its cancer therapy, Anktiva.
The description for the show points to Anktiva’s foundation: interleukin-15, an immune-signaling protein. According to the summary, regulatory pushback is the main obstacle slowing broader adoption. The drug is also linked in the writeup to helping counter lymphopenia, a drop in infection-fighting white blood cells that can hit after cancer therapies.
Right now, ImmunityBio’s focus is still squarely on bladder cancer. The company notched FDA approval for Anktiva in 2024, pairing it with BCG—a vaccine that’s also widely used as a bladder infusion therapy. CEO Soon-Shiong told Reuters the goal is to “generate cancer-free long-term overall survival,” though patients can still relapse even after standard treatments like Merck’s Keytruda. Reuters
After the open, eyes shift to the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco coming up later this month. That event kicks off Feb. 26 and runs through the 28th at Moscone West. Traders are already watching for any ImmunityBio abstracts, bits of chatter, or possible timeline updates making their way into the tape.
Investors are waiting on the company’s next quarterly results, with MarketBeat’s earnings calendar currently suggesting an early March timeframe—though that’s not set in stone and hasn’t always been confirmed by the company.
Premarket gains like these often evaporate once regular trading kicks in and spreads close up. ImmunityBio faces the challenge of translating its slim U.S. bladder-cancer approval into reliable revenue. Further FDA hurdles, sluggish adoption, or financing jitters could easily stall the comeback.
Tuesday’s regular session kicks off with a straightforward question: can the stock stay above Friday’s close once real volume hits? Afterward, the next big line in the sand for the market lands on Feb. 26, when GU symposium activity begins in San Francisco.
