NEW YORK – As second quarter financial results began to trickle in, July provided mixed returns for the stocks of diagnostics companies, and the 360Dx Index was essentially flat month over month.
Of the 27 companies in the index, 12 firms' share prices retreated last month, 14 companies' stocks increased, and Natera's stock price was flat month over month.
The index trailed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which inched up 1 percent month over month, and the Nasdaq, which grew 3 percent, but it beat the Nasdaq Biotech Index, which was down 2 percent.
Accelerate Diagnostics (-18 percent) saw the biggest decline in its stock price, followed by Opko Health (-14 percent), and CareDx (-9 percent). The gainers were paced by Genomic Health (+25 percent ), Invitae (+14 percent), and NeoGenomics (+11 percent).
In July, Accelerate returned almost all of its gains from June, when its stock price spiked 21 percent month over month. There is no obvious reason for the stock's gyrations, however, as the company has made no meaningful announcements in several months. It is scheduled to release its second quarter financial results on Aug. 8.
Opko Health also saw a reversal in its fortune as its July swoon followed a 36 percent rise in June. The company started the month by announcing that its subsidiary BioReference Laboratories had been chosen by Somos, a network of more than 2,500 physicians in New York City, to be its preferred provider of diagnostic testing and to aid with data analytics for its patients.
This week, Opko disclosed in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its Chairman and CEO Phillip Frost had admitted himself to the hospital after experiencing chest pains. He underwent successful surgery and is expected to make a full recovery, the firm said.
CareDx's stock slide was largely the result of a report from investment firm Kerrisdale Capital Management, which cast doubt on the company's AlloSure test, calling it "mostly useless, and potentially dangerous if used improperly." The report sent CareDx's shares down 13 percent in one day.
Among the gainers, Genomic Health's stock was helped by news at the end of July that it would be acquired by Exact Sciences. Its shares began ticking up even before the proposed deal was officially announced, and in the week leading up to the announcement, Genomic Health's share price grew almost 30 percent.
The company also said that its Q2 2019 revenues grew 19 percent year over year.
Exact Sciences stock, meanwhile, retreated more than 2 percent last month, and since the Genomic Health acquisition was made public, its stock has slipped more than 1 percent through afternoon trading on the Nasdaq today.
There were no obvious drivers for Invitae's share price surge last month, although it acquired Jungla, an artificial intelligence-driven biotech firm that it believes will enhance its variant interpretation capabilities, for up to $65 million.
Invitae also reported that it had results from the first users of its consumer-initiated genetic testing program and is working to incorporate the findings for what it expects to be an expanding customer base.
Lastly, NeoGenomics said in mid-July that it was building a new cancer diagnostic testing facility and global business headquarters in Fort Myers, Florida. It ended the month by announcing its Q2 revenues were up 50 percent year over year.
