NEW YORK, May 20, 2026, 16:03 EDT
HCW Biologics Inc. shares jumped over 100% late Wednesday, pushing the volatile micro-cap biotech stock higher again after new securities filings, an ongoing Nasdaq listing dispute and the latest quarterly results.
HCW Biologics shares jumped about 122% to $2.35, trading in a range from 93 cents to $3.96. Around 188 million shares changed hands. At $2.35, the company’s market value was roughly $12.7 million, based on market data. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF was up about 3.8%, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF added 2.1%.
HCW is facing pressure to keep its Nasdaq spot and bring in new capital. The company, in a May 18 filing, said it pushed back the end date of its planned offering to May 22. HCW is aiming for as much as $5.6 million by selling either common stock or pre-funded warrants. The warrants act like stock, mostly paid at the start and later turned into shares.
HCW said in a filing it may sell up to 4.59 million shares at an assumed $1.22 each, or issue the same number of pre-funded warrants. The filing noted there is no minimum offering size, so the company might end up raising less cash than expected.
HCW said it plans to spend the proceeds on preclinical and clinical work, with trials for HCW9302 included. The money will also go to research and development, marketing, working capital, and other corporate uses. HCW9302 is an IL-2 fusion protein. The lab-made immune-signaling drug aims to boost regulatory T cells that control immune responses.
Shares dropped the previous day with some profit-taking after a strong weekly run, Benzinga said. That rally kicked off when HCW released first-quarter numbers and pipeline news, according to the same Benzinga report.
HCW gave traders something to trade on after posting first-quarter revenue of $6.54 million, up from $5,065 a year ago. Net income to common stockholders came in at $1.98 million, or 37 cents per share, swinging from a loss of $2.20 million, or $1.97 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Licensing made up most of the revenue. HCW said it wrapped up a licensing deal with Beijing Trimmune Biotech in March, getting a nonrefundable upfront payment: $3.5 million gross cash, $2.9 million after taxes, plus a $3.5 million equity stake in Trimmune.
HCW Biologics picked HCW9302 as its top autoimmune drug candidate for its “relatively high IL-2Rα affinity and sustains serum exposure,” CEO Hing C. Wong said. Early readouts from the first two dose levels in its Phase 1 alopecia areata trial are still on track for the first half of 2026, the company said. markets.businessinsider.com
The space already has competition. For severe alopecia areata, HCW’s candidate would go up against oral drugs like Eli Lilly and Incyte’s Olumiant, cleared for adults in 2022, and Pfizer’s Litfulo, approved in 2023 for people 12 and up. HCW’s drug is still early and works through a different immune-modulation path.
But there are obvious risks with the rally. In its quarterly filing, HCW said it hasn’t generated revenue from commercial sales of its own immunotherapeutic products. Cumulative net losses hit $102.3 million from inception through March 31. The company said those conditions raise substantial doubt about its ability to keep operating as a going concern, meaning management sees risk to staying in business without more support.
Nasdaq remains an issue for HCW. The company disclosed it got a notice on March 26 that its stock wasn’t meeting the $1 minimum bid price for keeping its listing. A hearing on the company’s appeal took place May 5, but there’s no decision yet. HCW also said the 1-for-40 reverse stock split it did in April 2025 makes it ineligible for another 180-day compliance period.
At this point, the stock is well out in front of the news. What matters next for HCW is getting the financing done, steering clear of a Nasdaq issue, and producing human data that can push the story past another trading squeeze. That’s the key test.
