One-glance verdict
Not enough data
Fair value unavailable
Not enough cash-flow history to value this one with our method.
Fundamentals snapshot
Nkarta, Inc.
NKTX · NMS · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Current price
$2.75
52-week range
$1.70 - $3.72
Market cap
$196.97M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-7.87x Concerning
Net cash $109.22M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
0 Rewards
1 Risk
0 rewards · 1 risks
View details ↓What this company does
Nkarta, Inc.
Nkarta is a medical research company developing treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases (illnesses where the body's immune system attacks healthy cells), such as lupus. Because its potential drugs are still in early human testing, known as a clinical trial (the multi-step process for testing new drugs on people), the company doesn't have any products to sell and therefore doesn't generate revenue. The company's value depends on whether these trials are successful and its treatments are eventually approved for sale.
How the company got here
Nkarta was founded in 2015 by scientists and doctors to develop a new type of treatment using the body's own immune system. The company focuses on using special immune cells called Natural Killer (NK) cells, which are the immune system's first responders against illness. A key moment was their decision to focus heavily on autoimmune diseases (conditions where the body attacks itself, like lupus), after studies showed this type of cell therapy could be very effective. To fund this expensive research, Nkarta became a publicly traded company in 2020, and it has since managed its finances to ensure it has enough money to continue its work for several years.
What it actually does
Nkarta is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, which means it is currently testing potential new medicines in human studies and does not yet have any products for sale. It takes powerful immune cells, called Natural Killer cells, from healthy donors and engineers them in a lab to make them better at fighting disease. These modified cells are then grown in large batches and can be frozen, creating an "off-the-shelf" therapy that is ready to be given to patients when needed. The company's goal is to create treatments for serious autoimmune diseases and cancer that are effective, safe, and more convenient for patients than existing options.
Developing Cell Therapies
Nkarta has one primary business: researching and developing engineered cell therapies. Since its potential treatments are still in the testing phase, known as clinical trials (studies with human volunteers to test for safety and effectiveness), the company does not yet earn money from selling products. Its main focus is on its lead product candidate (a potential medicine being tested), NKX019, which is being studied as a treatment for several autoimmune diseases like lupus. All of the company's value and activities are based on the potential for these therapies to one day be approved by regulators and sold to patients.
What management is betting on now
The company is betting its future on the idea that its engineered Natural Killer (NK) cells can reset a patient's immune system to stop it from attacking the body. Their main strategic priority is the clinical development of their lead candidate, NKX019, for a variety of autoimmune diseases. A key part of their strategy is to make this powerful cell therapy accessible enough to be given in local community clinics rather than just major hospitals. By carefully managing their spending, they have secured a long cash runway (the amount of time a company can operate before it runs out of money) to fund these critical studies into 2029.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$-25.32M
FY2024 Q4
$-25.85M
FY2025 Q1
$-30.13M
FY2025 Q2
$-18.89M
FY2025 Q3
$-18.70M
FY2025 Q4
$-22.21M
FY2026 Q1
$-28.61M
FY2026 Q2
$-24.41M
Revenue
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Net income
$-40.37M
Diluted EPS
-0.54
Operating cash flow
$-24.22M
Free cash flow
$-24.41M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-27.83M
Diluted EPS
-0.37
Operating cash flow
$-28.20M
Free cash flow
$-28.61M
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Sources
Revenue
$0.00
Net income
$-27.41M
Diluted EPS
-0.38
Operating cash flow
$-21.65M
Free cash flow
$-22.21M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-21.71M
Diluted EPS
-0.29
Operating cash flow
$-18.69M
Free cash flow
$-18.70M
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Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-22.98M
Diluted EPS
-0.31
Operating cash flow
$-18.75M
Free cash flow
$-18.89M
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Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-31.98M
Diluted EPS
-0.43
Operating cash flow
$-29.61M
Free cash flow
$-30.13M
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Sources
Revenue
$0.00
Net income
$-25.93M
Diluted EPS
-0.29
Operating cash flow
$-24.75M
Free cash flow
$-25.85M
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Sources
Revenue
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Net income
$-28.34M
Diluted EPS
-0.39
Operating cash flow
$-24.55M
Free cash flow
$-25.32M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value — vs current price $2.75
We couldn't calculate a fair value right now.
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $109.2M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -7.9x.
Net debt
$-109.22M
Interest coverage
-7.87x
Nkarta, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 4 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
NKTX
BASELINE
Nkarta, Inc.
Total debt $73.54M Interest coverage -7.87x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $23.03M Interest coverage -121.42x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $12.85M Interest coverage -3,392.06x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $79.01M Interest coverage -192.50x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $38.19M Interest coverage -39.93x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
What you should know
The case for and against NKTX
0 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
Risks
-
Return on equity was -38.8% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
—
Forward P/E
-1.57x
P/B
0.80x
P/S
—
EV/EBITDA
-0.77x
PEG ratio
—
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
0.0%
Operating margin
0.0%
Net margin
0.0%
ROE
-38.8%
ROA
-19.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.30x
Current ratio
7.98x
Quick ratio
7.85x
Total debt
$73.54M
Total cash
$182.76M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$0.00
Revenue 5Y CAGR
—
EPS TTM
-1.58
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-92.76M
Free CF TTM
$-89.91M
FCF margin
—
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—