HC Wainwright Has Bearish Forecast for Nkarta Q1 Earnings

Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) – Investment analysts at HC Wainwright reduced their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Nkarta in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, March 26th. HC Wainwright analyst E. Bodnar now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of ($0.40) for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($0.34). The consensus estimate for Nkarta’s current full-year earnings is ($1.70) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Nkarta’s Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.42) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.45) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($1.74) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($2.12) EPS, FY2028 earnings at ($1.66) EPS, FY2029 earnings at ($1.49) EPS and FY2030 earnings at ($1.13) EPS.

Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.05).

Several other equities analysts have also commented on NKTX. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Nkarta from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Nkarta in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Nkarta from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nkarta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

Nkarta Stock Performance

NASDAQ NKTX opened at $2.06 on Monday. Nkarta has a 52-week low of $1.42 and a 52-week high of $2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $153.04 million, a P/E ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.28 and a 200-day moving average of $2.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nkarta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKTX. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Nkarta during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Nkarta in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Nkarta by 35.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 6,141 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nkarta during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Forefront Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Nkarta in the third quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 80.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nkarta

In other Nkarta news, CEO Paul J. Hastings sold 26,046 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.07, for a total transaction of $53,915.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 390,023 shares in the company, valued at $807,347.61. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Nkarta News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nkarta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright’s price target (reported by American Banking News) was increased to $11.00 — a constructive signal about long‑term upside potential and program value that could support buying interest. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright sharply cut EPS forecasts across multiple quarters and years in its March 26 research note: Q1 2026 to ($0.40) from ($0.34), Q2 to ($0.42) from ($0.36), Q3 to ($0.45) from ($0.38), Q4 to ($0.47) from ($0.41), FY2026 to ($1.74) from ($1.50), and material downgrades for FY2027–FY2030 (e.g., FY2027 now ($2.12) from ($1.84)). These lower model inputs signal slower cash runway/longer development timelines or higher costs, which is negative for the stock’s near‑term valuation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street Zen lowered its rating on Nkarta to “Sell” (reported by American Banking News), a direct negative for sentiment and potential catalyst for additional selling from fund managers or momentum traders. Read More.

About Nkarta

Nkarta, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Leveraging proprietary activation and expansion technologies, Nkarta aims to harness the innate tumor-killing properties of NK cells while incorporating targeted immuno-engineering approaches to enhance safety, potency and persistence in patients. The company’s platform supports both allogeneic cell manufacturing and genetic modifications to generate chimeric antigen receptor-expressing NK cell candidates designed to address a range of hematologic and solid tumors.

Nkarta’s lead program, NKX019, is an anti-CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy in early-phase clinical trials for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.