GenomeWeb Top 40 Rises 3 Percent in November Amidst Mixed Broader Market

NEW YORK – Stocks of omics and molecular diagnostics companies rebounded in November, rising 3 percent amid a mixed broader market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8 percent and the Nasdaq rose 6 percent, but the Nasdaq Biotech Index was in negative territory, falling by less than 1 percent. Of the 40 firms tracked by GenomeWeb, 19 saw their stock prices rise month over month and 21 saw their shares fall in value.

Protein sequencing firm Quantum-Si led the winners in November, as its shares were up 79 percent month over month. The company's shares spiked following an investor day presentation in which it detailed plans for a new platform called Proteus that the firm said could ultimately enable proteome-scale protein sequencing. The jump in share price came amid an otherwise gloomy month in which Quantum-Si missed its Q3 2024 revenue target and announced that it is laying off roughly a quarter of its 187-person workforce.

Guardant Health posted the second-largest gain in November, as its shares were up 63 percent month over month. Shares rose following the company's Q3 2024 earnings release in which it reported a 34 percent year-over-year increase in Q3 revenue and raised its full-year 2024 revenue guidance for the third consecutive quarter. The company received another boost later in the month when a jury awarded it $292.5 million in damages related to a false advertising lawsuit Guardant brought against Natera in 2021.

Despite this setback, Natera posted the third-largest gain in November among Top 40 firms, as its shares were up 39 percent month over month. During the month, the company reported that its Q3 2024 revenues were up nearly 64 percent year over year, and it raised its full-year 2024 guidance. Additionally, in November Natera announced that its Prospera Lung test received coverage from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for single lung transplant patients in the surveillance setting.

Myriad Genetics posted the largest decline in November with its shares down 26 percent month over month. The company's stock dropped following an announcement by UnitedHealthcare that it will no longer pay for pharmacogenetic multigene panel tests starting Jan. 1, 2025. The loss of UHC coverage could negatively impact Myriad's revenues by around $40 million per year.

During November, Myriad reported that its Q3 2024 revenues were up 11 percent year over year.

23andMe posted the second-largest decline in November, with its shares down 24 percent month over month. The company announced it is laying off roughly 40 percent of its workforce and ending its therapeutics program as part of a restructuring plan meant to streamline operations and reduce costs. It reported that its fiscal 2024 second quarter revenues dropped 12 percent year over year. 23andMe posted the largest decline among Top 40 companies in October, as well, with its shares falling 33 percent that month.

Akoya Biosciences posted the third-largest decline in November with its shares down 22 percent month over month. The company's stock fell following the release of its Q3 2024 financial results, in which the company reported a 25 percent drop in Q3 revenues, marking the third straight quarter of revenue decline. Akoya lowered its guidance and said that it is "actively evaluating a range of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward, sustainable growth, profitability, and long-term success."

Investment bank Craig-Hallum downgraded Akoya stock from a Buy to a Hold rating and lowered its price target to $5 per share.