Shares in Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE) edged 5% higher in Friday’s after-hours trading, after the company announced that it has now prepaid in full its outstanding term loans on June 12, 2020.The debt, comprised of an initial $100 million term loan and an additional $20 million term loan from funds affiliated with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P, was entered into in November 2018.The news follows the biopharma’s filing of a prospectus supplement dated April 27 for a public offering of up to $250 million of its common stock. Shares are being sold via Alliance Global Partners, alongside a 36-month purchase agreement with Arnaki Ltd, a British Virgin Islands corporation for up to $250 million.At the same time, Sorrento exited an equity distribution agreement, dated October 1, 2019 with JMP Securities LLC relating to shares worth up to $75 million. During the term of the agreement, the company ultimately raised $7.4 million.Shares in Sorrento are currently trading up 37% on a year-to-date basis, and analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on the stock’s outlook. The $24 average analyst price target indicates significant upside potential from current levels. (See SRNE stock analysis on TipRanks).Sorrento recently disclosed that in preclinical trials, the company’s monoclonal antibody (MaB), STI-4938, code named COVIDTRAP, inhibited SARS-CoV-2 viral infection in vitro.Sorrento also has another antibody in development, STI-1499 (COVI-SHIELD), which recently demonstrated promising in vitro results as it was able to completely block the SARS-CoV-2 virus.While it is still early on for both antibodies, H.C. Wainwright analyst Ram Selvaraju is encouraged by the positive results. “We continue to believe that Sorrento may be positioning itself as a leader in addressing the pandemic, with multiple potential therapeutic approaches in its pipeline alongside the COVI-TRACK IVD antibody test,” the analyst said.Indeed, its COVI-TRACK in vitro diagnostic test kit enables the independent detection of antibodies in patients exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In eight minutes or less SRNE says its test reveals whether someone has been exposed to or potentially had coronavirus, and subsequently created antibodies to combat the infection.Related News: 5 Promising Covid-19 Vaccines Picked For Trump’s Operation Warp Speed What Would a Merger Mean for Gilead? Top Analyst Weighs In Sorrento Soars 17% In Pre-Market On Covid-19 Test Application More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * AstraZeneca Inks Europe Deal For 400M Covid-19 Vaccine Doses * Boeing (BA) Stock Probably Rallied Too Far, Too Fast * Latam Airlines' Shares Could Be Heading Further South; Top Analyst Says 'Sell' * Starbucks’ (SBUX) Road to Recovery Will Take Longer Than Anticipated, Says Analyst

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From a fundamental perspective, I have not been a big fan of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO). However, INO stock has continued to sport very solid technicals.Source: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com I have long believed that combining the two studies can yield superior results. When a stock has excellent fundamentals and excellent technicals, it can be a potent recipe for a higher stock price.Inovio may not have the fundamentals that we want, but it's chart sure looks good. Let's look at this one from a trading perspective first.InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Trading INO Stock Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com This stock erupted in March, bursting from $4 to almost $20 in just a few days. After pulling back and settling in, it was clear that $9.50 was resistance for INO stock. * 7 Great Biotech Stocks to Buy and Hold Now While the stock struggled to break out over this mark, it continued to put in a series of higher lows, riding uptrend support higher (blue line). In mid-April, shares finally broke through, rallying to $16 — what is now current resistance — before pulling back.This part is important, because on that pullback, shares found support at prior resistance near $9.50. That's a key bullish development that has continued to play out.With the 50-day moving average and uptrend support still buoying INO stock, investors can stay long this name so long as that observation remains true. If Inovio can reclaim its 20-day moving average, it puts $16 resistance back in play. On a move over $16, the 52-week high up at $19.36 is possible.This will be key for bulls, too. Should INO stock break below the 50-day moving average and close below the month's current low at $11.13, it puts the $9.50 level back in play. Below $9.50 and a larger decline could be in store for the stock.Like I said, if we back out the fundamentals for a minute and focus solely on the technicals, this one looks pretty good. For now, the dips are being bought and bulls remain in control. Valuing Inovio StockMy biggest problem with Inovio is the fundamentals. For a trade, I don't mind discarding the fundamentals and only focusing on the technicals. However, for an investment, I need the fundamentals to work. In that sense, it depends on how you're looking to utilize INO stock.If it's an investment you're after, Inovio may not be your top candidate.The company has essentially no revenue at the moment. While it did have $30.4 million and $42.2 million in sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively, it has virtually none now, with just $4.1 million generated in 2019.The lack of revenue hardly matters though, with Inovio doling out a net loss in each of those years. In 2019, it lost almost $120 million. In this situation, it should go without saying that INO stock also does not generate positive free cash flow.So forget a minute about actual growth, and realize that this company barely has any revenue at all, and thus, does not generate positive cash flow or profit.After boosting its cash position, INO stock does have about $270 million in cash and short-term investments, which will certainly buy it some time. Particularly as it only has current liabilities of $32.3 million and as total assets outweigh total liabilities $338.9 million to $151 million.That said, if we are investing in a company for its balance sheet strength, we'll take Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) or Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) over INO stock.At the end of the day, Inovio is a play on the novel coronavirus. If it cracks the code on finding the cure, the stock will explode. If it doesn't, the stock could very well go right back to where it started from. That's too binary of a situation for me and therefore, Inovio only remains a trade candidate.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long GOOGL. More From InvestorPlace * Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG * Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own * Look What America's Richest Family Is Investing in Now The post Inovio Stock Still Has Strong Technicals – Herea€™s the Trade appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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