GenomeWeb Index up Slightly in August as Guardant Health Leads on Strength of Q2 Earnings

NEW YORK – Though its growth slowed somewhat in August compared to previous months, the GenomeWeb Index gained 2 percent, continuing a three-month climb.

The index outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose just 1 percent last month, but it underperformed the Nasdaq and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which both gained 4 percent in August. The performance of individual stocks in the GenomeWeb Index was mixed last month, as 18 of the 35 stocks saw gains and 17 saw losses.

Guardant Health led the gainers in August with a 16 percent increase in share price, followed by Agilent Technologies (+15 percent) and Myriad Genetics (+13 percent).

Berkeley Lights led the decliners in August with a 22 percent drop in stock price, followed by Burning Rock Biotech (-18 percent) and CareDx (-13 percent). This was Burning Rock's second month in a row being among the top decliners. The company's shares dropped 23 percent in July.

The top three gainers seemed to benefit from positive earnings reports in August.

Guardant reported that its second quarter revenues rose 39 percent year over year, and that it beat Wall Street analysts' average predictions on both the top and bottom line.

Importantly, the company firmed up plans to launch its colorectal cancer screening assay within the first half of next year, initially as an LDT, but with an expectation of gaining FDA clearance in 2023. Guardant has been validating the assay in a prospective trial called ECLIPSE, which it said this week has recruited 10,000 patients. Based on the incidence of CRC in the trial so far, the company said it needs to add 3,000 more subjects to appropriately power the study, but it can do this within its previously stated timeline.

Agilent reported that its third quarter revenues rose 26 percent year over year, beating analyst estimates on the top and bottom line. The company also raised its guidance for revenues and earnings per share for the full year.

Myriad said its revenues for the three months ended June 30 more than doubled year over year, led by strong performance from its hereditary cancer segment, and beat the consensus Wall Street estimate. During a call to discuss the firm's financial performance, Myriad CEO Paul Diaz said the recently completed quarter marked an important point for the company in executing its strategy to return to non-GAAP profitability "two quarters ahead of our prior expectations."

On the side of the decliners, Berkeley Lights also reported positive earnings news for Q2, with an 82 percent increase in revenues driven by higher sales of consumables and services. But the company missed analyst estimates on both the top and bottom line, which may have sent its shares downward.

There was no clear reason for the declines in the share prices of Burning Rock or CareDx.