Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Illumina Upgraded to Buy by Canaccord Genuity

NEW YORK – Canaccord Genuity on Wednesday upgraded its rating for Illumina to Buy, with a new price target of $445, based on improving trends in the sequencing instrument maker's core business.

"With a mega-trend like precision medicine, you can only bet against the market-leading technology enabler for so long," Canaccord Genuity Analyst Max Masucci wrote in a note to investors. "Illumina has addressed many of the concerns that led to our July 2019 downgrade of the stock, and we see a bright future for the company as we exit the COVID-19 pandemic."

The upgrade comes right after the US Federal Trade Commission said it will challenge Illumina's planned acquisition of liquid biopsy firm Grail.

"We continue to see a long runway for growth in Illumina's core business, given the minimal penetration of genomic-based research and clinical applications, and believe the stock is worth owning at current levels even without Grail," Masucci wrote.

No other analysts changed their stock ratings for Illumina, although Barclays lowered its price target to $285 from a previous target of $325.

In Wednesday morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Illumina rose 3 percent to $381.44 after falling 6 percent in response to news of the FTC's challenge.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.