IBRX Stock Explodes 500% — Is ImmunityBio the Next Biotech Giant?

People tend to lean forward in their chairs when they are looking at ImmunityBio’s stock. It looks more than just a rally at about $11.55 per share, up more than 500% so far this year. It has the feel of a resurrection.

IBRX was trading around $2 earlier this year, exhibiting the same level of skepticism and thin optimism as many small biotech hopefuls. The earnings release followed. $113 million in net product revenue for the entire year 2025. ANKTIVA, its immunotherapy for bladder cancer, is primarily responsible for the 700% annual increase. The volume of units sold reportedly increased by 750%. What had appeared to be a scientific endeavor suddenly started to resemble a business venture.

In a single session, volume jumped over 80 million shares on trading floors and retail brokerage apps. It was difficult to avoid feeling the commotion growing as you watched the tape. Investors in biotech companies who are used to seeing only one possible outcome—trial success or failure—seem to think that this time may be different. A story is developing, and stories have the capacity to be potent.

In 2024, the FDA approved ANKTIVA, an IL-15 superagonist that stimulates T cells and natural killer cells, for use in some patients with bladder cancer. The expansion of regulations has accelerated since then. Conditional marketing authorization was granted by Europe. Following suit, Saudi Arabia granted accelerated approval and even approved combination therapy for lung cancer. 33 nations in less than two years. That’s acceleration, not incremental progress.

Perhaps this worldwide presence is what has really sparked investor interest. Executives at ImmunityBio, which has its headquarters in California, talk candidly about the company’s three-year expansion plan, which includes creating what they refer to as a “Cancer BioShield” platform. It’s ambitious rhetoric. The science is complicated. However, the financials are still changing.

ImmunityBio reported a net loss of about $351 million in 2025, despite a spike in revenue. Spending on research and development is still high, as it must be for a biotech to advance several trials. Although the company’s losses have decreased from previous years, profitability is still far off. Whether revenue growth can surpass cash burn without further funding is still up in the air.

Valuation frequently precedes balance sheets in the biotech industry. IBRX is no longer a tenacious micro-cap with a market valuation of $11 billion. Investors view it as a serious business. But serious businesses need to be reliable. Logistics, regulatory navigating, and reimbursement negotiations are all necessary for commercial rollout throughout Europe and the Middle East; none of these tasks are glamorous.

A scene in which oncologists talk about treatment options with patients who are faced with tough decisions in hospital infusion rooms perfectly encapsulates the tension. either immunotherapy or radical surgery. combinations of experiments or established procedures. The stakes are not monetary; they are personal. As this is happening, it seems like stock charts, no matter how dramatic, only provide a portion of the picture.

Markets, however, respond to momentum. With price targets extending into the mid-teens and beyond, analysts have become more optimistic. There is a lot of conjecture in online forums regarding approvals for lung cancer and further label expansions. ANKTIVA may be used as a backbone treatment for more than just bladder cancer, according to some investors. Others warn that optimism in biotech can be dashed as fast as it emerges.

It’s difficult to overlook the broader cultural change surrounding immunotherapy. Checkpoint inhibitors revolutionized oncology ten years ago and provided substantial returns to early investors. Businesses like Merck and Bristol Myers rode those waves. Positioning itself within that same immunological framework, ImmunityBio makes the case that triggering natural killer cells in addition to T cells may enhance responses.

However, history is a source of both caution and inspiration. Early commercial traction-driven biotech rallies can falter when growth slows or competition heats up. Big pharmaceutical companies are creating their own cytokine-based treatments and circling similar targets. The moat might not be as broad as fans anticipate.

IBRX recently touched its 52-week high of $11.71, according to TradingView charts. Compared to the lows of the previous year, the price action feels nearly vertical. Investors are sitting on extraordinary gains because they bought close to the lows. Now, the psychological question is: do they hold, thinking the story is only getting started? Or, fearing volatility, do they lock in profits?

ImmunityBio seems to have stepped over an invisible boundary, moving from concept to contender. Revenues are actual. Approvals are concrete. Partnerships are formed. Still, the business is in a vulnerable stage as it funds an ambitious clinical pipeline and scales up commercialization.

The upcoming chapters will be significant. FDA comments on more cases of bladder cancer. information from trials on lung cancer. Cash runway disclosures. Every announcement will either sow doubt or strengthen confidence. Rarely do biotech stocks stay sideways for very long.