3. ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)
Short Float: 35.30%
Market Cap: $7.58 Billion
Stock Upside Potential: 79.39%
ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX) takes the No. 3 spot with a short float of 35.30%, a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, and upside potential of 79.39%. This is one of the bigger market-cap names in the ranking, but it still fits the theme because it is heavily shorted and carries meaningful upside potential. For investors searching for most shorted biotech stocks, cancer immunotherapy stocks, small-cap and mid-cap healthcare stocks, FDA catalyst stocks, and biotech stocks to buy now, IBRX has one of the more attention-grabbing setups.
The key development came on May 19, when ImmunityBio confirmed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application, or sBLA, for ANKTIVA plus BCG in BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. That is a serious regulatory milestone because FDA review can change investor sentiment quickly, especially in oncology stocks where approved indications and label expansions can directly affect commercial opportunity.
The supplemental BLA was accepted based on additional scientific data that ImmunityBio provided to the FDA. The data detailed overlapping features of papillary and CIS disease, supporting the potential expansion of ANKTIVA’s already approved indication for patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC with papillary tumors. In plain English, the company is trying to widen the use case for an already important bladder cancer therapy. For biotech investors, that matters because label expansion can sometimes be more commercially practical than starting from scratch with a completely unproven drug.
ImmunityBio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation immunotherapies and cell therapies designed to activate a patient’s immune system to fight cancer and infectious diseases. Its broader goal is to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune systems to generate long-lasting immunological memory. That scientific positioning puts IBRX directly in the center of major investment themes, including immunotherapy stocks, cell therapy stocks, oncology stocks, and innovative cancer treatment stocks.
Another important part of the story is cost savings. At the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 2026 conference, ImmunityBio detailed the potential cost savings of ANKTIVA in the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients with carcinoma in situ. According to the provided information, ANKTIVA plus BCG showed cost savings per cystectomy of $109,622 at Year 1, $151,438 at Year 2, and $60,393 at Year 3 compared to TAR-200. Those savings reportedly came from lower drug acquisition and administration costs.
That detail is not just trivia. In healthcare investing, clinical efficacy is important, but economics also matter. Hospitals, insurers, physicians, and healthcare systems increasingly care about cost-effectiveness, especially in cancer treatment where therapies can become extremely expensive. If a therapy can show both clinical value and potential economic advantages, investors may view the commercial story more favorably.
Of course, IBRX is not without risk. A 35.30% short float is not accidental. Short sellers may be focused on regulatory uncertainty, commercial execution, cash needs, competition, or valuation concerns. Biotech stocks can also move sharply based on FDA decisions, label language, trial updates, and reimbursement assumptions. That volatility is part of the reason IBRX remains one of the most debated high short interest stocks in the healthcare space.
Still, with 79.39% upside potential and 25 hedge fund holders, ImmunityBio remains a serious name on this list. It has an FDA review story, an approved product expansion angle, immunotherapy relevance, and a large cancer market connection. For investors looking for heavily shorted stocks with major upside, IBRX is not a quiet name. It is a stock with a clear catalyst and a very visible bull-versus-bear debate.
Click next to see the following stock...
