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GenomeWeb Top 40 up 3 Percent in February, Tracking Rise in Broader Market

Note: Invitae was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last month and has been removed from the GenomeWeb Top 40. Azenta Life Sciences has been added in its place.

NEW YORK – Stocks of omics and molecular diagnostics companies were up in February, following gains in the broader market.

Overall, the GenomeWeb Top 40 was up 3 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 percent, the Nasdaq was up 6 percent, and the Nasdaq Biotech Index rose 1 percent. Of the 40 firms tracked by GenomeWeb, half saw their stock prices decline month over month, while shares of the others increased in value.

Natera led the winners, as its stock rose 31 percent month over month. The company announced in February that its Signatera minimum residual disease test has met coverage requirements for CMS's Molecular Diagnostic Services Program (MolDx) for ovarian cancer in the adjuvant and surveillance settings and for breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting.

Natera reported Q4 2023 revenues of $311.1 million, up 43 percent from $217.3 million in Q4 2022 and beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $285.6 million. It projected full-year 2024 revenue within a range of $1.32 billion to $1.35 billion.

In a note to investors, Canaccord Genuity analyst Kyle Mikson said the company's women's health and oncology businesses are "well-positioned for near-term revenue growth" and that its stock "remains undervalued." The bank raised its price target for Natera's stock from $87 to $100.

Ginkgo Bioworks posted the second-largest gain in February, with its shares up 26 percent month over month, though the reasons for the rise were not obvious. While large in percentage terms, the company's low trading price makes it subject to dramatic swings.

Ginkgo reported $35 million in Q4 2023 revenues, down 65 percent from $98.3 million in Q4 2022 because of a downturn in COVID testing and missing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $42.5 million. CFO Mark Dmytruk said during a conference call following the release of the results that the company has begun looking for potential spending cuts.

Ginkgo also announced in February that it acquired three diagnostics and drug discovery companies in whole or in part — Reverie Labs, Proof Diagnostics, and Patch Biosciences — that will provide it with new genome engineering, AI, and machine learning tools.

In a note to investors, TD Cowen analyst Steven Mah said that despite the "underwhelming" Q4 results, the bank remains positive about Ginkgo's cell engineering and core biosecurity businesses.

CareDx posted the third-largest gain in February, with shares up 24 percent month over month. The company reported Q4 2023 revenues of $65.6 million, down 20 percent from $82.4 million in Q4 2022 but beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $63.7 million.

NanoString Technologies posted the largest decline of the month, with shares down 71 percent. At the beginning of the month, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a step made necessary by a string of losses both in the US and abroad in its patent dispute with 10x Genomics, in particular $31 million in damages the company was ordered to pay following a jury verdict last year.

Several days after declaring bankruptcy, NanoString secured $47.5 million in loans to help it through the bankruptcy process.

In a bright spot for the beleaguered firm, at the end of the month the European Unified Patent Court of Appeal overturned a preliminary injunction against the company that was previously issued by the UPC Munich local division in September. This allowed NanoString to immediately resume sales of all CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager products in 16 impacted UPC member countries in Europe.

QuidelOrtho posted the second-largest decline in February, with its stock price down 33 percent month over month. The company reported Q4 2023 revenues of $742.6 million, down 14 percent from $866.5 million in Q4 2022 and well below the consensus Wall Street estimate of $796.9 million.

A week later, the company's board of directors announced that it had terminated the employment of longtime CEO Douglas Bryant.

Biodesix posted the third-largest decline in February, with shares down 23 percent. It was not clear what drove the decline. Friday morning, the company reported Q4 2023 revenues of $14.7 million, up 53 percent from $9.6 million in Q4 2022.

GenomeWeb Top 40        
Company Ticker 29-Feb-24 31-Jan-24 % change
Adaptive Biotechnologies ADPT 4.11 3.67 11.99
Agilent Technologies A 137.36 130.13 5.56
Akoya Biosciences AKYA 5.74 5.08 12.99
Azenta AZTA 65.15 65.20 -0.08
Becton Dickinson BDX 235.55 238.93 -1.41
Biodesix BDSX 1.54 2.00 -23.00
Bio-Rad Laboratories BIO 325.88 321.02 1.51
Bio-Techne* TECH 73.57 70.32 4.62
Bruker** BRKR 86.54 71.51 21.02
CareDx CDNA 10.64 8.56 24.30
Castle Biosciences CSTL 18.06 23.08 -21.75
Cytek Biosciences CTKB 7.70 7.55 1.99
Danaher DHR 253.14 239.69 5.61
Exact Sciences EXAS 57.53 65.40 -12.03
Fulgent Genetics FLGT 22.56 24.59 -8.26
Ginkgo Bioworks DNA 1.52 1.21 25.62
Guardant Health GH 19.00 21.93 -13.36
Hologic HOLX 73.80 74.44 -0.86
Illumina ILMN 139.83 143.01 -2.22
MDxHealth MDXH 3.65 4.10 -10.98
Myriad Genetics MYGN 20.93 21.39 -2.15
NanoString Technologies NSTG 0.12 0.41 -70.73
Natera NTRA 86.49 65.94 31.16
NeoGenomics NEO 15.60 14.85 5.05
Olink OLK 22.37 24.48 -8.62
OraSure Technologies OSUR 7.20 7.37 -2.31
Pacific Biosciences PACB 5.53 6.51 -15.05
Qiagen QGEN 42.79 43.64 -1.95
Quanterix QTRX 23.96 22.09 8.47
Quantum-Si QSI 1.67 1.56 7.05
QuidelOrtho QDEL 45.60 68.51 -33.44
Revvity RVTY 109.59 107.16 2.27
Seer SEER 1.82 1.72 5.81
Standard Biotools LAB 2.25 2.27 -0.88
Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO 570.18 538.98 5.79
Twist Bioscience TWST 39.29 32.40 21.27
Veracyte VCYT 23.55 25.02 -5.88
Waters WAT 337.42 317.71 6.20
23andMe ME 0.57 0.73 -21.92
10x Genomics TXG 46.64 41.67 11.93
GenomeWeb Top 40 Average  
73.66
71.65 2.81
*Bio-Techne paid a dividend of $.08 on Feb. 9.        
**Bruker paid a dividend of $.05 on Feb. 29.