Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) are soaring Tuesday following a significant update regarding the company’s atopic dermatitis treatment.

• Nektar Therapeutics stock is among today’s top performers. What’s behind NKTR gains?

Positive Dermatitis Treatment Data Boosts Stock

Nektar announced positive results from the 36-week blinded maintenance period of the 52-week REZOLVE-AD study of rezpegaldesleukin, a novel regulatory T-cell (Treg) biologic, in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD).

The data revealed that 71% and 83% of patients maintained EASI-75 responses and 85% and 63% maintained vIGA-AD 0/1 responses with 24 µg/kg monthly and quarterly dosing, respectively. These promising results indicate a meaningful improvement in responses observed across key efficacy endpoints at week 52 with both dosing schedules, including an up to 5-fold increase in EASI-100 response rates.

The durability of maintained response rates supports the advancement to a pivotal Phase 3 program evaluating both monthly and quarterly maintenance dosing.

NKTR Stock Shoots Above Moving Averages

Nektar Therapeutics is currently trading 43% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 18.1% above its 50-day SMA, demonstrating strong short-term momentum. Shares have increased 403.36% over the past 12 months and are currently positioned closer to their 52-week highs than lows, suggesting a strong upward trend.

The RSI is at 44.10, which is considered neutral territory, indicating that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. Meanwhile, the MACD is above its signal line, indicating bullish momentum.

The combination of neutral RSI and bullish MACD suggests mixed momentum, indicating potential for further upward movement if market conditions remain favorable.

• Key Resistance: $61.00
• Key Support: $42.50

Healthcare Sector At Large

Nektar Therapeutics is significantly outperforming its sector, with a gain of approximately 42.3% on Tuesday compared to a mere 0.04% increase in the healthcare sector. This stark contrast highlights strong investor interest in Nektar, especially as the overall healthcare sector has struggled with a slight decline over the past 30 days.

The healthcare sector ranks 8 out of 11 sectors, indicating mid-tier performance, while Nektar’s substantial gains suggest it is a standout performer within this context. Historically, the sector has shown a slight decline of 0.64% over the past 30 days, further emphasizing Nektar’s exceptional performance.

NKTR Price Action: Nektar shares are up 43.24% at $53.10 at the time of publication on Tuesday. The stock is moving between a high of $55.43 and a low of $47.05 today. It’s also worth noting that the stock is 22% below its 52-week high.

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