So here's a classic biotech story: a company needs money to develop its drugs, so it sells more stock. Investors who already own shares often don't love that, because it dilutes their ownership. That's what's happening with Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (CADL) on Friday.

The stock is down in premarket trading after the company announced the pricing of a public offering. The plan is to use the cash to get ready to launch its lead cancer therapy and to keep funding clinical trials. It's a necessary step for a development-stage biotech, but it's rarely a popular one with shareholders in the short term.

The Equity Raise

Candel priced an underwritten public offering of around 18.35 million shares at $5.45 per share. That should bring in about $100 million before expenses, and the deal is expected to close around February 23.

Where's the money going? A big chunk is earmarked for "launch readiness" for the company's lead product candidate, a viral immunotherapy called aglatimagene besadenovec (or CAN-2409, which is much easier to type). The rest will help cover ongoing development costs, particularly for a phase 3 trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In short, they're raising cash to try to turn their science into a real product.

What's CAN-2409?

This is the therapy Candel is betting on. The company recently presented data at a medical meeting showing that in a phase 3 trial for intermediate-to-high-risk localized prostate cancer, CAN-2409 demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in prostate cancer-specific disease-free survival. The hazard ratio was 0.62, which is a fancy way of saying the risk of the cancer progressing or causing death was reduced. The effect was seen with different types of radiation therapy used alongside it.

So there's promising data here, which is presumably why the company is gearing up for a potential launch and why it needs the cash to do so. Developing and commercializing drugs is expensive.

What the Charts Are Saying

Let's look at the technical picture, because the stock action tells its own story. The share price is currently trading about 10.4% below its 20-day and 50-day simple moving averages. That's generally a sign of bearish near-term momentum. Zooming out, the stock is down a painful 51.27% over the past 12 months and is hanging out much closer to its 52-week lows than its highs.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is sitting at 54.02, which is considered neutral—not overbought, not oversold. Meanwhile, the MACD indicator shows a value of -0.0157, with the signal line at -0.0165. Because the MACD is above the signal line, this indicates a bullish crossover. So you have a neutral RSI and a bullish MACD, which suggests mixed signals and no clear, strong trend at the moment.

From a pure price level perspective, traders might watch $5.50 as a key resistance level and $5.00 as key support.

What Do the Analysts Think?

Despite the stock's decline, the analyst consensus rating is a Buy. The average price target is $15.77, which is a world away from the current premarket price around $5.27. Recent analyst actions show a bit of a split:

• Stephens & Co. maintains an Overweight rating with a $15.00 target (as of December 8, 2025).
• Citigroup maintains a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $24.00 from a previous level (as of November 14, 2025).
• Stephens & Co. also initiated coverage back in October with an Overweight rating and a $15.00 target.

The takeaway? The professionals who cover this stock still believe in the long-term story, even if they're adjusting their short-term expectations. A $15 or $24 price target implies significant upside if their thesis plays out.

The Bottom Line: Candel Therapeutics is doing what many biotechs do: raising money to fund its operations. The stock is down because selling new shares dilutes existing shareholders. But the company is putting that capital to work on a therapy that has shown promising clinical results. For investors, the question is whether the potential of CAN-2409 justifies the dilution and the current stock price weakness. The analysts, at least, seem to think it does.

Candel Therapeutics shares were down 11.43% at $5.27 during premarket trading on Friday.