Candel Therapeutics Stock Headed For 20% Weekly Gains: Retail Over The Moon With BofA's 'Buy' Call

Shares of Candel Therapeutics Inc. (CADL) surged over 9% on Friday morning, reaching their highest level in nearly a month and setting the stage for their best weekly gain (+20%) since Dec. 20.

BofA Securities initiated coverage of Candel with a 'Buy' rating and a $15 price target, according to The Fly, implying an upside of about 92% from the previous close. 

The brokerage highlighted promising early data for Candel's two lead drug candidates — CAN-2409 and CAN-3110 — as key drivers of its bullish outlook.

The analyst noted that CAN-2409's early data in prostate cancer suggests the potential for a meaningful breakthrough, given the lack of significant advancements in available treatments. 

BofA added that CAN-3110 has shown early indications of nearly doubling overall survival in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma.

Last month, Candel provided a broad update on what to expect this year and beyond:

• Q1 2025: Updated overall survival data from Phase 2a clinical trials of CAN-2409 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
• Q4 2025: Phase 1b overall survival data for CAN-3110 in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma.
• Q4 2026: Biologics License Application (BLA) submission for CAN-2409 in prostate cancer.
• Upcoming scientific conferences: Presentation of Phase 3 data for CAN-2409 in prostate cancer.

Candel also disclosed that its cash and cash equivalents stood at approximately $103 million as of Dec. 31, 2024, which the company expects to fund its operations into the first quarter of 2027.

CADL sentiment and message volume Feb 7 as of 11 am ET | source: Stocktwits

Stocktwits sentiment on Candel flipped to ‘bullish’ (71/100) on Friday from a ‘bearish’ (42/100) reading last week, amid a spike in message volume. 

Retail traders cheered BofA's bullish rating, with one urging investors to stay long on the stock.

Adding to the optimism, a retail investor flagged a 13G filing from Fidelity Investments on Friday, revealing that it now owns a 9.3% stake in Candel.

Notably, according to Koyfin data, short interest in Candel stock dropped from 14.1% at the beginning of January to 6.9% by the end of the month.

Candel shares have skyrocketed 560% over the past 12 months — and with bullish sentiment building, some traders believe the rally is far from over.

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