360Dx Top 30 Creeps up 1 Percent in February

Note: Invitae was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last month and has been removed from the Top 30. GeneDx has been added in its place.

NEW YORK – The 360Dx Top 30 rebounded in February after falling slightly in January, rising 1 percent month over month.

The increase still mostly trailed the broader market trends as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 2 percent last month, the Nasdaq climbed 6 percent, and the Nasdaq Biotech Index rose 1 percent.

The Top 30's largest gainers were GeneDx (+111 percent), Natera (+31 percent), and Sera Prognostics (+27 percent). The decliners were led by QuidelOrtho (-33 percent), Biodesix (-23 percent), and Castle Biosciences (-22 percent).

Sera Prognostics and Biodesix had no key news last month to explain the changes in their share prices.

GeneDx, meantime, saw its share price more than double after reporting its Q4 2023 financial results last month. The firm's fourth quarter revenues from continuing operations, which excludes its legacy Sema4 diagnostic testing business, rose 27 percent to $58.1 million from $45.8 million in Q4 2022. Full-year 2023 revenues fell 14 percent to $202.6 million from $234.7 million in 2022, in line with analysts' expectations.

Fellow top gainer Natera saw its share price lift on news of a positive Medicare coverage decision and solid earnings results at the end of the month. Earlier this week, Natera announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would start reimbursing its Signatera minimal residual disease test in ovarian cancer in the adjuvant and surveillance settings and breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting.

Also this week, the company announced that its Q4 2023 revenues rose 43 percent year over year, while full-year 2023 revenues increased 32 percent compared to 2022. Strong sales, guideline inclusion of its women's health products, Signatera coverage, and the completion of several clinical studies all contributed to the growth, the company noted.

Among the decliners, QuidelOrtho saw its shares decline on the back of two key pieces of news last month. The firm's stock plummeted more than 30 percent after reporting a 14 percent decline in Q4 revenues due to lower-than-expected sales of COVID-19 and influenza testing, missing analysts' average estimate and the company's own guidance.

Additionally, full-year 2023 revenues fell 9 percent to $3.0 billion from $3.3 billion in 2022, and QuidelOrtho then issued a correction to its 2024 adjusted earnings per share guidance.

After the disappointing results, the firm's board of directors terminated longtime CEO Douglas Bryant and created an Office of the CEO. The termination decision was involuntary, and Bryant later informed the board of his intent to resign from the board.

Castle Biosciences' only news last month was the announcement of its Q4 and full-year financial results. The firm reported an increase in Q4 revenues of 72 percent to $66.1 million compared to $38.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company saw strong growth across nearly all of its diagnostic test categories, including its DecisionDx-Melanoma assay and its DecisionDx-SCC test. Full-year 2023 revenues were up 60 percent to $219.8 million from $137.0 million in 2022.