2024-07-29 18:24:26 ET
No investor likes it when one of their stocks is hit with a recommendation downgrade from an analyst. That was the dynamic behind Iovance Biotherapeutics ' (NASDAQ: IOVA) more than 2% decline in value on Monday. A onetime Iovance bull has considerably cooled on the stock, and this triggered a bit of a sell-off for the biotech.
Well before market open today, Piper Sandler 's Joseph Catanzaro reduced his recommendation on Iovance to neutral from the preceding overweight (buy, in other words). In doing so, he cut his price target nearly in half, slicing it to $10 per share from the former $19.
In his research note detailing the change, Catanzaro cited field research on the biotech 's first commercialized drug, Amtagvi . He found that, "Despite a solid number of patients 'enrolled,' initial metrics point to a slow launch, with just [roughly] 10-15% of 'enrolled' patients having been infused with commercial Amtagvi in the full first quarter since approval."
For further details see:
Why Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Stumbled Today