Arcellx surges after Gilead agrees to acquire the CAR-T biotech in a deal worth up to $7.8B

Arcellx (ACLX) is up 78.0% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The stock is surging after Arcellx announced it has agreed to be acquired by Gilead Sciences in an all-cash deal with an additional contingent value component. The move reflects arbitrage pricing toward the stated per-share consideration and improved visibility on Arcellx’s lead CAR-T program becoming part of a larger commercial platform.

Details:

Arcellx announced on Feb. 23, 2026 that it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Gilead Sciences, with total deal value described as up to about $7.8 billion.

The terms include $115 per share in cash, plus a contingent value right of up to an additional $5 per share tied to future performance milestones.

The companies have an existing collaboration around anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel), Arcellx’s lead CAR-T candidate in multiple myeloma, which has been under FDA review for later-line disease.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions, which can also influence near-term trading dynamics for the target’s shares.

Sources:

Financial Times, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$ACLX Insider Trading Activity

$ACLX insiders have traded $ACLX stock on the open market 20 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 20 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ACLX stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

CHRISTOPHER HEERY (CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER) has made 0 purchases and 11 sales selling 56,936 shares for an estimated $4,314,293.
MICHELLE GILSON (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER) has made 0 purchases and 8 sales selling 30,985 shares for an estimated $2,357,268.
DAVID CHARLES LUBNER sold 6,000 shares for an estimated $450,000

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$ACLX Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 112 institutional investors add shares of $ACLX stock to their portfolio, and 113 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

FMR LLC removed 2,197,589 shares (-38.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $143,282,802
RA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. removed 1,769,371 shares (-58.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $115,362,989
VESTAL POINT CAPITAL, LP added 1,675,000 shares (+134.0%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $109,210,000
PARADIGM BIOCAPITAL ADVISORS LP added 1,075,000 shares (+23.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $70,090,000
PERCEPTIVE ADVISORS LLC removed 1,002,282 shares (-40.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $65,348,786
AJU IB INVESTMENT CO., LTD. removed 824,071 shares (-78.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $53,729,429
CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 783,011 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $51,052,317

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$ACLX Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $ACLX in the last several months. We have seen 5 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Needham issued a "Buy" rating on 02/05/2026
UBS issued a "Buy" rating on 01/07/2026
Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 12/22/2025
Canaccord Genuity issued a "Buy" rating on 11/03/2025
Stifel issued a "Buy" rating on 10/16/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $ACLX, check out Quiver Quantitative's $ACLX forecast page.

$ACLX Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $ACLX recently. We have seen 8 analysts offer price targets for $ACLX in the last 6 months, with a median target of $110.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Yanan Zhu from Wells Fargo set a target price of $115.0 on 02/23/2026
Gil Blum from Needham set a target price of $105.0 on 02/05/2026
Emily Bodnar from HC Wainwright & Co. set a target price of $115.0 on 02/04/2026
Michael Yee from UBS set a target price of $100.0 on 01/07/2026
John Newman from Canaccord Genuity set a target price of $130.0 on 12/08/2025
Stephen Willey from Stifel set a target price of $129.0 on 10/16/2025
Eric Schmidt from Cantor Fitzgerald set a target price of $88.0 on 10/09/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.