NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – In one of the worst months ever for the US stock market, firms that make and sell life science tools and molecular diagnostic products were hit particularly hard.
For the month of October the GenomeWeb Daily News Index, which tracks the stock performance of 35 firms, fell around 22 percent — a steeper decline than the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-14 percent), the Nasdaq (-17 percent), and the Nasdaq Biotech Index (-12 percent). Every single stock in the Index had a down month, with all but three of the stocks registering double-digit losses.
Bruker had the most difficult month, with its shares tumbling 69 percent. This past summer, the firm began taking steps to reduce its operating and interest expense and reduce its exposure to currency fluctuations. It reported last week nearly flat Q3 revenue growth compared to the third quarter of 2007 and a 33 percent drop in profits for the quarter.
In addition to Bruker, five other firms in the Index lost at least 50 percent during October: Caliper Life Sciences (-50 percent), Affymetrix (-52 percent), Helicos BioSciences (-55 percent), CombiMatrix (-57 percent), and Orchid Cellmark (-59 percent).
Three firms in the Index managed to keep their declines in the single digits for the month: Rosetta Genomics (-6 percent), Nanogen (-7 percent), and Bio-Rad Laboratories (-9 percent).
While GenomeWeb Daily News covers many more firms than the 35 that are in the Index, those that have been included have a significant portion of their business focused on molecular biology and cellular research tools and are publicly traded in the US.
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GenomeWeb Daily News Index
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| Company |
Ticker
|
Current Price
(Oct. 31, 2008) |
Last
Price (Sept. 30, 2008) |
% change
|
| Accelrys |
ACCL
|
4.79
|
5.49
|
-12.75
|
| Accelr8 |
AXK
|
2.74
|
3.78
|
-27.51
|
| Affymetrix |
AFFX
|
3.69
|
7.74
|
-52.33
|
| Agilent |
A
|
22.19
|
29.66
|
-25.19
|
| Applied Biosystems |
ABI
|
30.83
|
34.25
|
-9.99
|
| Beckman |
BEC
|
49.92
|
70.99
|
-29.68
|
| Becton Dickinson |
BDX
|
69.40
|
80.26
|
-13.53
|
| Bio-Rad |
BIO
|
85.38
|
93.92
|
-9.09
|
| Bruker |
BRKR
|
4.09
|
13.33
|
-69.32
|
| Caliper |
CALP
|
1.40
|
2.80
|
-50.00
|
| Celera |
CRA
|
11.31
|
15.45
|
-26.80
|
| Cepheid |
CPHD
|
11.87
|
13.83
|
-14.17
|
| Clinical Data |
CLDA
|
11.00
|
16.08
|
-31.59
|
| CombiMatrix |
CBMX
|
6.36
|
14.92
|
-57.37
|
| Compugen |
CGEN
|
1.46
|
1.66
|
-12.05
|
| DeCode Genetics |
DCGN
|
0.27
|
0.39
|
-30.77
|
| Genomic Health |
GHDX
|
18.43
|
22.65
|
-18.63
|
| Gen-Probe |
GPRO
|
47.06
|
53.05
|
-11.29
|
| Helicos BioSciences |
HLCS
|
0.77
|
1.72
|
-55.23
|
| Illumina |
ILMN
|
30.83
|
40.53
|
-23.93
|
| Invitrogen |
IVGN
|
28.79
|
37.80
|
-23.84
|
| Luminex |
LMNX
|
18.65
|
25.01
|
-25.43
|
| MDS |
MDZ
|
10.64
|
11.95
|
-10.96
|
| Millipore |
MIL
|
51.89
|
68.80
|
-24.58
|
| Nanogen |
NGEN
|
0.25
|
0.27
|
-7.41
|
| Nanosphere |
NSPH
|
4.98
|
8.53
|
-41.62
|
| Orchid Cellmark |
ORCH
|
1.18
|
2.88
|
-59.03
|
| PerkinElmer |
PKI
|
17.94
|
24.97
|
-28.15
|
| Qiagen |
QGEN
|
14.26
|
19.73
|
-27.72
|
| Rosetta Genomics |
ROSG
|
2.45
|
2.62
|
-6.49
|
| Sequenom |
SQNM
|
18.00
|
26.62
|
-32.38
|
| Sigma-Aldrich |
SIAL
|
43.86
|
52.42
|
-16.33
|
| Thermo |
TMO
|
40.60
|
55.00
|
-26.18
|
| Vermillion |
VRML
|
0.70
|
1.00
|
-30.00
|
| Waters |
WAT
|
43.80
|
58.18
|
-24.72
|
| GWDN Index Average | 20.34 |
26.24
|
-22.49
|
|