January 25, 2024 10:11pm

After encouraging data on the inflation front; although upcoming earnings’ season missed estimates and consensus worry me

News: Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.16) the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CF Foundation) has agreed to provide up to $15 million to support the development of Prime Editors for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) to correct CFTR mutations at the natural genetic locus.

Pre-open Indication: 3 Hits and 0 Miss

Never leave an investor uninformed! A trusted source of factual reporting!

With a slight sigh of relief, I answer or qualify the sector’s equity’s movement; with an emphasis on which company is gaining or losing stride in their portfolio for the short-term

Join me … in the NO spin zone. If you’re looking for sector intel, ideas and facts or Insight in a volatile climate, RMi provides the extenuating factors of share pricing.

 

Thursday: The Dow closed UP +242.74 points or +0.64%, the S&P closed UP +25.61 points +0.53% while the Nasdaq closed UP +28.58 points or +0.18%

 

Henry’omics:

We need to more than consider the economic environment - rising rates and inflation to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies …

Indexes closed up on Thursday as the Nasdaq slowed.

Despite Thursday’s muted gains, the Nasdaq has outperformed this week, tracking to finish up 1.3%.

Economic Data Docket: Gross domestic product (GDP) data showed the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 3.3% in Q4/23. That’s much higher than the 2% expectation from economists underscoring continued economic resiliency despite interest rate hikes from the Fed.

  • Another data “mark” showed initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 20 rose to 214,000, higher than the estimated 200,000 figure.

 

Thursday’s RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: “yet another reverse in the share pricing dice throw? Wednesday, 31 decliners led 4 advancers, ending a few days of improving market breadth. Weak aftermarket, be cautious about new buys; choose to take some partial profits if available to lock in gains before a possible upcoming earnings’ season pullback.” …  https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13299

 

Pre-Open indications: 3 Hits < Vericel (VCEL +$1.78), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$0.14), Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$0.24)> 0 Miss

 

Advance/Decline (A/D) Line:

  • Thursday’s advance/line lines at the open was positive with 28 incliners, 6 decliners and 1 flat; ending with a positive close of 23 incliners, 11 decliners and 1 flat

 

Ebb and flow of MY covered sector cell and gene therapy session daily “endings”:

Q1/24: 2 holiday, 9 negative and 7 positive closes

 

Key Metrics:

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) and the SPDR S&P ETF (XBI) indicators:

  • Thursday, the IBB was up +0.66% and the XBI was up +0.89%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Thursday was up +0.31 point or +2.36% at 13.45

 

Thursday’s Closing Down (11 of 11):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$1.27),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$0.73)
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.27),
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT -$0.26),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$0.24),
  • Blueprint Medicine (BPMC +$0.19 after Wednesday’s +$1.22),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$0.14 after Wednesday’s -$3.38)
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS -$0.07),
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE -$0.05),
  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI -$0.0158 after Wednesday’s +$0.0050),
  • Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM -$0.014),

Flat (1);

  • Generation Bio (GBIO)

Thursday’s Closing Up (10 of 23):

  • Vericel (VCEL +$1.78 after Wednesday’s +$1.43),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE+$1.54 after Wednesday’s -$0.87),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.98 after Wednesday’s -$1.21),
  • Verve Therapeutics (VERV +0.39 after Wednesday’s -$0.71),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB +$0.33),
  • AxoGen (AXGN after Wednesday’s +$0.31),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.16),
  • Caribou Biosciences (CRBU +$0.16),
  • Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.16),
  • Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR +$0.15),

 

Q1/24 – January

  • Thursday closed positive with 23 incliners, 11 decliners and 1 flat

 

The BOTTOM LINE… “if one watches the flow, the numbers and understanding the old Abbot & Costello monologue: Who’s on first, what’s on second and I don’t know who is on third – that’s what I want to find out!”

  • Reiterating … again, “the cell and gene therapy sector has “recalibrated” its expectations and I don't think this … adjustment is completely over.”
  • Earnings and guidance are DUE and going to be crucial to continue driving force in the sector.

Today’s business news affecting “our” universe: Reuter’s

  • US Q4 economic growth handily beats expectations
  • The small-cap Russell 2000 trimmed its gain to 0.3%, while the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) outperformed, rising 0.6%.

The top three (3) performing in the session:

  • Thursday: Vericel (VCEL), Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
  • Wednesday: AxoGen (AXGN), Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM) and Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) -2x and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
  • Monday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Vericel (VCEL) and Blueprint Medicine (BLMC)

The worst three (3) in the session:  

  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Regenxbio (RGNX) and BioLife Solutions (BLFS)
  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) and Blueprint Medicine (BOMC)
  • Tuesday: Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Verve Therapeutics (VERV) and Vericel (VCEL)
  • Monday: Solid Biosciences (SLDB), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and Mesoblast (MESO)

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • Right up front, “I also hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I can always be WRONG but … I am mostly EARLY!”

 

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. Whether information or intelligence is good, bad, or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Henry McCusker, the editor, and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication. Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and its or their securities.

I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.