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GenomeWeb Top 40 Down 11 Percent in August, Reversing Previous Month's Gains

Stock Market

NEW YORK – Stocks of molecular diagnostics and omics companies were down in August, ceding ground made up during a July rally.

Overall, the GenomeWeb Top 40 was down roughly 11 percent. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4 percent from July, while the Nasdaq was down 5 percent, and the Nasdaq Biotech Index was down 1 percent. Of the 40 firms tracked by GenomeWeb, 30 saw their stock prices decline month over month, and 10 saw shares rise in value.

Genetic testing company Invitae led the winners as it stemmed a multi-month decline that has seen the company's stock lose 80 percent of its value since the start of the year. The company's shares were up 60 percent month over month in August as it executed a restructuring plan that involved exiting a number of businesses and geographies as well as layoffs of more than 1,000 employees.

In August, Invitae reported Q2 2022 revenues of $136.6 million, up 18 percent year over year and nearly matching the consensus Wall Street estimate of $136.9 million. Also in August, investment bank JP Morgan downgraded Invitae shares to Underweight, citing questions about how its restructuring plans will play out.

Sequencing firm Pacific Biosciences posted the second largest gain in August as its shares rose 34 percent month over month. The company reported Q2 2022 revenues of $35.5 million, up 16 percent year over year and above the consensus Wall Street estimate of $35.2 million, though it lowered its full-year 2022 revenue guidance by around 13 percent due to weak sales in Europe and China.

Burning Rock Biotech's stock was up 23 percent in August, as the company reported that its Q2 2022 revenues were up 3 percent year over year despite negative impacts from COVID-19 lockdowns in China.

Proteomics firm Quanterix posted the largest drop in stock price in August, with shares down 42 percent month over month. The company's stock plummeted following the announcement during its Q2 2022 earnings call that it is embarking on a restructuring and assay redevelopment plan to address quality control issues with its high sensitivity immunoassays. Quanterix President and CEO Masoud Toloue said the company plans to lay off around 130 employees, or 25 percent of its workforce. Quanterix is also considering terminating the lease on a new facility in Bedford, Massachusetts, or subleasing some or all of the space in order to cut operating expenses.

Following the announcement of the restructuring plan, investment bank Canaccord Genuity downgraded Quanterix from a Buy rating to Hold and lowered its price target to $12 from a previous target of $40.

Fulgent Genetics saw its stock decline 27 percent month over month. In August, the company reported that its Q2 2022 revenues fell to $125.3 million, down 18 percent from $153.6 million in Q2 2021 as demand for COVID-19 testing dropped off.

Shares of proteomics company SomaLogic also fell 27 percent in August. The firm reported Q2 2022 revenues of $14.1 million, down 29 percent from $19.8 million in Q2 2021, and below the consensus Wall Street estimate of $24.8 million. SomaLogic said the Q2 decline was due to decreased COVID-19 research funding. The company also lowered its guidance for full-year 2022 revenues to between $80.0 and $90.0 million. It had previously projected revenues in the range of $105 million to $110 million.

GenomeWeb Top 40        
Company Ticker 31-Aug-22 31-Jul-22 % change
Adaptive Biotechnologies ADPT 8.92 9.16 -2.62
Agilent Technologies A 128.22 134.10 -4.38
Becton Dickinson BDX 252.59 244.31 3.39
Berkeley Lights BLI 3.67 4.49 -18.26
Bio-Rad Laboratories BIO 485.29 563.26 -13.84
Bio-Techne* TECH 331.81 385.28 -13.88
Bruker BRKR 56.00 68.55 -18.31
Burning Rock Biotech BNR 3.92 3.19 22.88
CareDx CDNA 19.59 23.79 -17.65
Castle Biosciences CSTL 29.00 27.96 3.72
Cue Health HLTH 3.33 3.38 -1.48
Danaher DHR 269.97 291.47 -7.38
Exact Sciences EXAS 35.55 45.10 -21.18
Fulgent Genetics FLGT 43.47 59.75 -27.25
Ginkgo Bioworks DNA 2.69 2.86 -5.94
Guardant Health GH 50.06 50.17 -0.22
Hologic HOLX 67.56 71.38 -5.35
Illumina ILMN 201.64 216.68 -6.94
Invitae NVTA 3.04 1.90 60.00
Meridian Bioscience VIVO 32.59 31.66 2.94
Myriad Genetics MYGN 22.34 26.38 -15.31
NanoString Technologies NSTG 13.56 12.80 5.94
Natera NTRA 49.26 47.00 4.81
NeoGenomics Laboratories NEO 10.05 10.12 -0.69
Pacific Biosciences PACB 5.86 4.37 34.10
Personalis PSNL 3.31 3.69 -10.30
PerkinElmer PKI 135.06 153.17 -11.82
Qiagen QGEN 45.43 49.64 -8.48
Quanterix QTRX 9.35 15.99 -41.53
Quantum-SI QSI 3.12 3.25 -4.00
QuidelOrtho QDEL 79.26 102.04 -22.32
Seer SEER 10.10 9.00 12.22
SomaLogic SLGC 3.68 5.05 -27.13
Sophia Genetics SOPH 3.29 3.45 -4.64
Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO 545.32 598.41 -8.87
Twist Bioscience TWST 40.12 43.74 -8.28
Veracyte VCYT 20.40 26.34 -22.55
Waters WAT 298.60 364.03 -17.97
23andMe ME 3.37 2.78 21.22
10x Genomics TXG 32.99 40.15 -17.83
GenomeWeb Top 40 Average 84.08 94.00 -10.54  

*Bio-Techne paid a dividend of $.32 on Aug. 1.