NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The GenomeWeb Index rose 3 percent in May, vastly outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index — which gained a third of a percent and lost 4 percent, respectively — and performing on par with the Nasdaq.
Stock performance in the April GenomeWeb Index was mostly positive, with 19 of the 26 stocks seeing gains and only seven seeing losses.
Exact Sciences took the top spot in May for the second month in a row, with a 22 percent increase in share price. The company saw its stock drop about 7 percent in one day in mid-May after a short seller released a report that badmouthed the company's colon cancer test Cologuard. But Exact's shares bounced back after United Healthcare included coverage of fecal DNA testing for colorectal cancer in its latest Coverage Determination Guideline, making it the final big US insurer to cover Cologuard.
Natera took the second spot in May with a 13 percent increase in share price. Early in the month, the company announced that it is developing a new noninvasive prenatal test that will look for de novo mutations in single-gene disorders. Natera also beat analysts' expectations for revenues when it reported its first quarter earnings.
Bruker came in third in May with a 12 percent increase in share price after posting a 3 percent increase in Q1 revenues and beating analysts' expectations for its top line.
Invitae was the biggest decliner in May, dropping 22 percent. The company's shares declined throughout the month after it announced Q1 revenues that fell short of analysts' expectations.
Pacific Biosciences made its second straight appearance on the decliners list with a 16 percent loss in share price. The company is being sued in Europe by Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which is alleging infringement of intellectual property from Harvard University for which Oxford holds an exclusive license.
Meridian Bioscience rounded out the bottom three in May with a 7 percent dip in share price.
