Markets
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Luke Kawa

Flurry of positive announcements make ImmunityBio the next short squeeze target for retail traders

Heavily shorted ImmnuityBio is continuing its stellar run, up big in premarket trading after management delivered its fourth and fifth doses of positive news for the week.

In a pair of press releases, the biotech company said that:

  • A trial aiming to advance the utilization of its bladder cancer drug (ANKTIVA) is over 85% complete, with interim analysis having been positive.

  • A study of one of its treatments delivered in concert with another drug helped patients stay clear of Waldenstrom Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for up to 15 months.

At their premarket peak on Friday, shares had more than doubled on the week.

The stock jumped 30% on Thursday after management said that ANKTIVA volume sales rose 750% in 2025. That came on the heels of a 7% rise on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia approved this drug as part of a treatment for bladder cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. And that followed a release from the company on Tuesday about how ANKTIVA “demonstrated statistically significant immune restoration across two clinical trials in 151 patients with non-small cell lung cancer,” driving shares up nearly 9%.

About 36.5% of the company’s shares were sold short as of the start of this year, and retail traders are clearly of the view that those betting against the company will be forced to capitulate amid this litany of positive releases. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, two of the top three posts on the r/ShortSqueeze subreddit center on the biotech firm, with one of these a cross-post from r/WallStreetBets of a more than $90,000 position initiated after the close on Thursday.

This may be another instance in which the term “short squeeze” looks like a bit of a misnomer: as of year-end 2025, about 120.6 million shares of IBRX were sold short, per exchange data. Cumulative volumes over the past three full sessions have been above 150 million. So going forward, if there are shorts left to be squeezed, it’s because this three-day spike (going on four days!) had much more to do with a buyer’s binge thanks to this string of encouraging news.

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Helena Cheng

Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemon’s geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected “halo effect” across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemon’s valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retail’s richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi O’Neill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brand’s growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets
Paige Oamek

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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