Key Points

• Iovance Biotherapeutics' leading product, Amtagvi, is generating decent sales.

• However, the medicine is expensive and difficult to administer.

• Iovance looks risky, and the stock is unlikely to meet Wall Street's price target.

• 10 stocks we like better than Iovance Biotherapeutics ›

There's at least one good thing to say about Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: IOVA), a small-cap biotech. The drugmaker is an innovative company. It developed Amtagvi, a medicine that became the first of its kind approved for advanced melanoma (skin cancer).

However, this breakthrough hasn't led to solid performances. Since Amtagvi's launch last year, Iovance Biotherapeutics' stock has been southbound. Even so, with an average price target of $9.10, which implies a potential upside of 261% from its current levels, Wall Street continues to have faith in the company. Should investors consider buying Iovance Biotherapeutics' shares?

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Image source: Getty Images.

What's going on with Iovance Biotherapeutics?

The process involved in manufacturing and administering Amtagvi is complex. It requires physicians to collect a piece of the patients' tumors from which they extract T cells (which, among other things, help fight cancer) to grow in a lab. From that, patient-specific infusions of Amtagvi are manufactured in a specialized facility. Before receiving Amtagvi, patients have to undergo chemotherapy. The entire process typically takes over a month.

There are also significant expenses associated with the medicine that wouldn't exist if Amtagvi were an oral pill. All these factors have made it challenging for Iovance Biotherapeutics. Earlier this year, the company revised its guidance after realizing it had been too optimistic with its estimates of activating authorized treatment centers where Amtagvi can be administered to patients.

Still, Amtagvi is generating decent sales. In the second quarter, Iovance Biotherapeutics reported revenue of about $60 million, almost double what it reported in the year-ago period. Most of that was from Amtagvi. The company's other commercialized product, Proleukin, another cancer medicine, generates relatively little revenue. For fiscal 2025, Iovance expects total product revenue of $250 million to $300 million. Again, most of that will be from Amtagvi. That's not bad for a medicine that was only approved last year.

Is there more upside for the stock?

Those bullish on the stock might point out several things. First, Amtagvi could earn approval in other regions within the next 12 months, including Canada and Europe. That would significantly expand Iovance Biotherapeutics' addressable market. Considering the medicine could generate upward of $200 million in the U.S. the year after approval, the global opportunities look attractive.

Second, even in the U.S., Iovance has barely scratched the surface of the patient population it is targeting. Amtagvi is indicated for melanoma patients who have undergone some prior therapies unsuccessfully. In the U.S., 8,000 patients die from the disease every year. Even if not all of them would be eligible for Amtagvi, it is certainly a lot more than the just over 100 Iovance has treated so far.

Third, Amtagvi could earn important label expansions down the line. The medicine is being investigated across a range of other indications, including lung, endometrial, and cervical cancer. If it can score phase 3 clinical wins, that could expand the therapy's target market and jolt Iovance Biotherapeutics' stock price.

However, even with all that, the biotech remains a risky bet. The complex and expensive nature of the medicine it develops and manufactures will make it challenging to gain significant traction while allowing it to turn a profit. Expanding into new territories will help Amtagvi's sales, but it will also significantly increase its expenses.

Further, Iovance isn't exactly cash-rich. The company ended the second quarter with about $307 million in cash, equivalents, and restricted cash, which it believes will enable it to last until the fourth quarter of next year. That's not very long. Amtagvi-related sales and various financing options it could pursue should allow it to keep the lights on even longer, but it's rarely a good sign when a company says that its cash will run out within a year and a half.

Finally, Iovance Biotherapeutics could encounter clinical and regulatory obstacles with Amtagvi, which could negatively impact its stock price. The biotech stock looks too risky for most investors. I don't expect Iovance Biotherapeutics to hit its average Wall Street price target in the next 12 months.

But investors with a large appetite for risk might still want to consider initiating a small position in the stock. Given its innovative potential and the possibility that it will execute its plan flawlessly, its shares could skyrocket.

Should you invest $1,000 in Iovance Biotherapeutics right now?

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Key Points

• The leisure cruise industry is faring far better than it seems like it should be, and an unlikely Carnival is leading the way.

• Although Iovance Biotherapeutics shares have never been lower, the company's never been more promising than it is right now.

• Shopify is capitalizing on a shift in the e-commerce business with all the right technological tools.

• 10 stocks we like better than Carnival Corp. ›

Experienced investors understand that being in the stock market requires a long-term, multiyear mindset. For truly patient people though, the reward is well worth the wait; you'd be hard-pressed to find better returns on your money than the market's average annual gain of about 10%.

Still, sometimes you get the itch for a bit more gain reaped in a little less time. And every now and then the market obliges with the right prospects.

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If you can stomach their above-average risk, there are stocks that have the potential to quintuple your money within the next five years. Even half of that, of course, would still be worth your while.

Carnival Corp.

Anyone who knows anything about Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) knows the leisure cruise company took on a ton of debt during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It needed the cash just to survive. As of May the $40 billion company was sitting on nearly $26 billion worth of long-term obligations costing it roughly $1.4 billion worth of interest payments per year. That's a pretty big bite out of its annualized top line of almost $16 billion, paring its yearly net income back to something in the ballpark of $3 billion. That's why shares are still down on the order of 30% from their price right before the pandemic took hold, and less than half of their 2018 peak price -- investors are simply worried its balance sheet is untenable.

The thing is, this profitable company is managing to continue paying down its debt while also still growing its business. At its early 2023 peak, for perspective, Carnival's long-term debt stood at nearly $33 billion.

While there's obviously plenty of more work to be done before the company is back to its pre-pandemic condition, the demand it requires to do so is most definitely in place. Last quarter's record-breaking revenue of $6.3 billion was turned into record-breaking operating income of over $900 million, extending an ongoing streak of growth for both measures. Look for more of the same, too. See, also as of the end of last quarter the company's total customer deposits toward future trips reached a record-breaking $8.5 billion.

What gives? As it turns out, consumers are still seeking out affordable luxury experiences even if money is tight. The Cruise Lines International Association believes the industry will serve 37.7 million passengers this year, breaking last year's record of 34.6 million en route to 41.9 million in 2028. Carnival is well positioned to capture at least its fair share of this growth.

Just don't tarry if you're interested. More and more investors are seeing this dynamic, given how shares are well up from their 2022 low and still climbing.

Iovance Biotherapeutics

There's a good chance you've never heard of Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: IOVA). Its billion-dollar market cap just doesn't turn many heads, and for those who do find it, the unprofitable biopharma outfit with only one expensive therapy in its portfolio seems like anything but a sure thing.

If there was ever a one-trick pony to take a shot on though, this one may be it.

It's called Amtagvi. Only approved early last year, this drug is the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cellular therapy (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, specifically) to treat certain kinds of melanoma. The underlying science, however, is promising on far more fronts. Amtagvi -- generically called lifileucel -- is also being tested in a dozen other clinical trials, while similarly made treatments are in the midst of eight more testing regimens. And some of these trials are in their latter stages, like the use of lifileucel as a treatment for certain sorts of non-responsive lung cancer.

Image source: Getty Images.

There is a challenge. That is, Amtagvi is complicated to administer, and expensive. Each patient's one-time treatment is custom-made in a lab for their particular tumor at a cost of around $500,000 apiece. Some insurers are balking, particularly given that it's still a relatively new medicine, and not a more proven "front line" therapy that's also often much cheaper. Anyone who's been watching this company for a while also knows this stock's performed poorly since its 2010 initial public offering (IPO), and even since its 2020 rally when Amtagvi's approval first became imminent.

The fact is, however, Iovance Biotherapeutics' future has never been brighter than it is right now, yet the stock's never been cheaper. The company's also never been closer to profitability than it is at this time. Analysts are expecting bottom-line progress that puts it on a trajectory for a swing to profitability sometime around or even before 2030, when research from Global Data suggests sales of Amtagvi could exceed $1 billion en route to as much as $2 billion per year. This prospect alone is enough to turn up the heat on Iovance stock in the meantime.

Shopify

Finally, add Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP) to your list of stocks that could turn $1,000 into $5,000 by 2030. The analyst community expects its top line to grow to the tune of 20% per year for the next several years, pumping up its profits at an even faster rate.

It's possible you've used the company's technology without even realizing it. In contrast with Amazon's business model, Shopify helps brands and merchants build their own online stores. This allows for far more customization of the e-commerce experience, ultimately building a stronger -- and more direct -- relationship with consumers as they become customers. Although the company no longer discloses the figure, estimates of the number of online stores put the figure somewhere around 5 million.

The company does, however, still disclose how much business its platform is facilitating. Last year, Shopify's e-commerce technology handled $292.3 billion worth of business on behalf of its customers, generating $8.9 billion worth of revenue for itself. Those numbers were up 24% and 26% (respectively) year over year, extending growth trends that are expected to persist for a long while more.

The key to this growth is the way e-commerce is evolving in the wake of Amazon's heavy-handed dominance of the business.

In its early days Amazon.com was the premier platform for connecting with consumers. As time has marched on, however, Amazon is decreasingly a partner with its sellers, and increasingly a competitor to them. Not only does the e-commerce giant now sell its own merchandise, but it offers third-party sellers the option of paying the company to more prominently feature their goods at the site. Smaller sellers without much of a marketing budget often just can't compete. The issue of fake product reviews also remains a nuisance. All of this dynamic ultimately helps Shopify, of course, by prompting sellers to look for sales platforms where they have more cost-effective control.

Then there's the more philosophical aspect of e-commerce's ongoing evolution. As the industry changes it's increasingly moving toward greater authenticity and more personal connections with consumers. This of course favors Shopify's customizable offerings, and is one of the reasons IMARC Group believes the world's direct-to-consumer market that Shopify serves will grow at an average annualized pace of more than 17% through 2033. Shopify is well positioned to win more than its fair share of this growth.

Should you invest $1,000 in Carnival Corp. right now?

Before you buy stock in Carnival Corp., consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Carnival Corp. wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $636,563!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,108,033!*

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James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Iovance Biotherapeutics, and Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Iovance Biotherapeutics has proven to be an innovative biotech.

• However, the stock has declined significantly over the past year, partly due to its risk profile.

• Too much would have to fall Iovance's way for the stock to be a millionaire maker.

Over the past two years, Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: IOVA), a small-cap biotech company, has made significant clinical and regulatory progress. However, the stock has also plunged over this period -- shares are currently trading for less than $2 apiece. Penny stocks tend to be risky, but Iovance Biotherapeutics has an exciting approved product and several potential catalysts that could jolt its stock price.

If Iovance Biotherapeutics' long-term plans come to fruition, the stock could skyrocket from current levels and deliver the kinds of returns over the next two decades (or so) that could help one become a millionaire. How likely is that to happen? Let's find out.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: Getty Images.

An innovative approach to treating cancer

Iovance Biotherapeutics' claim to fame is that it developed Amtagvi, a medicine for advanced melanoma (skin cancer). There are at least two important things to note about this product. First, it is manufactured from patients' tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), a type of white blood cell that destroys cancer cells. Second, Amtagvi became the first medicine of its kind approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

It's not surprising, then, that Amtagvi's sales have been growing at a good clip. Iovance Biotherapeutics expects to generate $275 million this year (at the midpoint) after racking up $164.1 million in revenue last year. The company's long-term strategy seems simple enough. It is currently seeking approval for Amtagvi in other regions, after which it will look to earn label expansions for the medicine.

Then, Iovance Biotherapeutics will work on developing other TIL-based therapies. If all of that happens without a hitch, Iovance Biotherapeutics could, indeed, generate life-changing returns from its current levels.

Will Iovance's breakthroughs be enough?

Suppose one invests $100,000 in Iovance Biotherapeutics today. It will take a compound annual growth rate of 12.2% to get to $1 million in 20 years, which is above the S&P 500's historical return. It's hard to bet on Iovance Biotherapeutics accomplishing such a feat despite its Amtagvi-related success. The medicine was a significant breakthrough and could achieve blockbuster status at some point. Even so, one issue with Amtagvi is that it is a complex medicine to administer.

The procedure requires collecting patients' cells, which are used to manufacture the therapy. It takes 34 days for the manufacturing work to be completed. Further, Iovance Biotherapeutics recently revised its guidance downward from between $400 million and $450 million for fiscal year 2025. It did so because it had miscalculated the timeline for the activation of authorized treatment centers where Amtagvi is administered.

Launch dynamics are complex for any medicine, but they are even more so for therapies like Amtagvi. This factor significantly complicates matters for Iovance Biotherapeutics, making the stock less attractive, as it impacts its revenue and earnings potential. In the meantime, the company estimates that it only has sufficient cash to keep the lights on until the second half of 2026. That's before we account for other obvious potential issues.

Consider that a lot would have to go right for Iovance Biotherapeutics to perform well through the next two decades. It will need to record consistent clinical and regulatory wins. Setbacks, particularly with otherwise promising products or pipeline candidates, will sink its stock price. That's the risk biotech investors have to live with, and the risk is far higher when dealing with a smaller drugmaker like Iovance. Perhaps Iovance Biotherapeutics will perform well regardless, but it's hard to bet on that happening, considering it has yet to establish itself.

The company currently has only two products on the market, remains unprofitable, and has only enough cash for the next two and a half years, facing some uncertainty due to the complexity of the therapies it markets. Between potential clinical trial failures, regulatory rejections, and the possibility that Iovance Biotherapeutics may have to resort to dilutive financing, the stock appears far too risky for most investors. It's worth keeping Iovance Biotherapeutics on your watchlist and considering investing small sums in the stock if its prospects improve.

Should you invest $1,000 in Iovance Biotherapeutics right now?

Before you buy stock in Iovance Biotherapeutics, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Iovance Biotherapeutics wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $976,677!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025

Prosper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Iovance Biotherapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: IOVA) didn't quite end the stock trading week on a high note. The company's shares were dinged by almost 6% that day, due largely to an analyst's recommendation downgrade. This occurred on a generally positive day for equities, as the S&P 500 index managed to land in the black with a 0.7% rise.

A bearish adjustment

Well before market open, UBS pundit David Dai flipped the switch on his Iovance recommendation, changing it to neutral from his previous buy. Compounding that significantly, he drastically lowered his price target to $2 per share from $17.

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Image source: Getty Images.

Dai's latest take on the biotech company comes after the analyst -- and the rest of the investing world -- had slightly over a week to digest the company's latest quarterly earnings.

According to reports, Dai pointed out in his update that sales of advanced melanoma drug Amtagvi, far and away Iovance's most leading product, were below expectations. This implies a slower ramp-up of its commercialization, which is concerning given the product's importance. He also expressed concern about higher drop-out rates for the drug. To him, this implies flaws in patient selection.

Reasons to be cautious

While I think Iovance has impressive science behind it and Amtagvi still has significant potential, there are aspects of the company's business that should have investors worried. As Dai wrote, that ramp-up feels rather slow, and the company's notable revenue guidance cut in that earnings report is also cause for concern. I wouldn't be bullish on this stock right now.

Should you invest $1,000 in Iovance Biotherapeutics right now?

Before you buy stock in Iovance Biotherapeutics, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Iovance Biotherapeutics wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $635,275!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $826,385!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 967% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Iovance Biotherapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.