360Dx Top 30 Tumbles in August

NEW YORK – A bumpy summer has continued for the 360Dx Top 30, which fell 10 percent in August after jumping 10 percent in July.

The Top 30 aligned with the broader market as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 percent month over month and the Nasdaq decreased 5 percent. Meantime, the Nasdaq Biotech Index declined by 1 percent.

The Top 30's highest gainers were Invitae (+60 percent), Burning Rock Biotech (+23 percent), and Accelerate Diagnostics (+22 percent). The decliners were led by Dermtech (-32 percent), Fulgent Genetics (-27 percent), and Veracyte (-23 percent). Each of the gainers and the decliners last month reported quarterly financial results that likely impacted their share prices. 

Invitae's share price increase was likely driven by its positive earnings results. Last month, Invitae reported its Q2 revenues rose nearly 18 percent, led by the firm's oncology business. Germline testing, therapy selection, personalized cancer monitoring, and companion diagnostics accounted for $81 million, growing 14 percent year over year, while revenues from the company's women's health business increased 27 percent.

SVB Securities analyst Puneet Souda wrote in a note to investors after the results that oncology testing "remains the most meaningful driver" for the firm "in the longer run," although "we see cash-burn constraints limiting opportunities to grow the business in an increasingly competitive market."

The results come after an announcement in July that the firm would be restructuring its business and laying off 1,000 workers.

Burning Rock Biotech also benefited from solid financial results. Earlier this week, the company announced that its revenues were up about 3 percent compared to 2021 despite COVID-19 lockdowns in China throughout the quarter. While revenues from the central laboratory business and in-hospital testing declined, the firm's research and development services revenues more than doubled during the quarter.

Accelerate Diagnostics, meantime, priced a $35 million public offering of its common stock in August that may have had a positive impact on its share price. The company planned to offer 17.5 million shares of its stock at $2.00 per share, and said it intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and commercialization efforts.

The Tucson, Arizona-based firm also inked a deal with Becton Dickinson last month for BD to sell the Accelerate Pheno system and Accelerate Arc module for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in territories where the products have regulatory approval or registration.

On the same day, the firm reported that its second quarter net sales rose 39 percent year over year. It added eight contracted instruments and brought three instruments live in the US during the quarter.

Like the gainers, Dermtech also announced its Q2 revenues last month, which may have contributed to its share price downturn. The firm reported a 36 percent increase in overall revenues, driven by higher assay sales. However, the company's net loss grew to $29.6 million from $17.1 million, and the firm lowered its guidance for 2022 assay revenues.

Fulgent Genetics was also likely impacted by its Q2 revenue results as it announced that revenues fell nearly 18 percent despite doubling core non-COVID business revenues. Revenue from COVID-19 testing has returned to a more normalized level, the firm noted. The company separately announced that it has launched a test to detect monkeypox utilizing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention PCR test for orthopox viruses.

In contrast, Veracyte reported that its Q2 revenues beat analyst expectations and rose 32 percent year over year. Testing revenue increases were led primarily by the firm's urology portfolio, including its Decipher tests for prostate and bladder cancer, and total test volume grew 19 percent. The company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance in light of the results.

*Bio-Techne paid a dividend of $.32 per share on Aug. 12.

**Labcorp paid a dividend of $.72 per share on Aug. 17.