September 21, 2022 4:49pm

Investors feel the pain, as confidence and conviction continue to drop

The lack of capital market access will be debilitating and G&A cut-back factor

Pre-open indications: 1 HIT< Biostage (BSTG $0.00 with 3,196 shares traded)>  

WHY and HOW is this market affecting the cell and gene therapy sector … “The Bottom Line” underlines the framework of share pricing actions.

Who else is tracking a broad grouping of cell and gene therapy equities – can you afford to not read facts supported by real numbers?

If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund now a journalist; it is that your life and your bank account are largely tied to your knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets.

 

The Dow closed DOWN -522.45 points (-1.70%) the S&P closed DOWN -66.00 points (-1.71%) while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -204.86 points (-1.79%)

 

Henry’omics:

The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq reversed lower as interest rates increase by 75 basis points which will ultimately affect the cell and gene therapy sector’s share pricing.

On-target quote, “Stocks are finally coming around to the idea that the Federal Reserve is willing to push the economy into a recession to tame inflation, according to Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance.” <CNBC>

Fed rate increases possibly reflect another 50 and later 125 basis point increase this year terminal rate to 4.4% by end of year.

An on-target quote, “You can only steer the ship towards the storm for so long, but eventually there comes a time when you need to batten down the hatches and with the Fed’s third consecutive 75 basis point rate hike over the past four months, market participants should be looking for cover to weather the upcoming storm,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management.” <CNBC>

Volume was higher by double-digit percentages on both the Nasdaq and the NYSE, compared to the same time on Tuesday.

Economic Data Docket: The Fed raised rates by 0.75 percentage point, or 75 basis points, as was widely expected, and said it expects its so-called terminal rate to reach 4.6%.

 

Largest volume of the session:

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) +9.118 million shares traded (-$0.69) after Tuesday’s +21.503 million shares traded (+$0.93) after Monday’s -30.962 million share traded (-$0.41 or -6.47%) – EXPECT an offering!

 

RegMed Investor’s (RMi) Pre-Open: “Fed policy decision day at 2:30p.m.” … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12613

 

RegMed/Stem/Cell and Gene Therapy’s 35 covered equities’ Advance/Decline (A/D) lines: what happened …

  • Wednesday’s advance/decline line opened negative at 13 up/ 17 down and 5 flats, stayed negative with 11 up/23 down and 1 flat at the mid-day, ending with a negative close of 4/30 and 1 flat.

 

Pre-open Indications: 1 HIT < Biostage (BSTG $0.00 with 3,196 shares traded)>

 

Key Metrics:

  • Wednesday - Sector volume was LOW with 1 of the 4-upside having higher than the 3-month average volume with LOW volume of 5 of 30-downside having higher than the 3-month average volume

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

  • Wednesday, the IBB was down -2.64% and the XBI was down -3.49%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Wednesday was up +0.95 points or +3.50% at 28.11

 

Jumping with share pricing momentum (4 of 4):

  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI +$0.16 after Tuesday’s +$0.04 and Monday’s -$0.25),
  • Verve therapeutics (VERV +$0.06),
  • Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM +$0.03),
  • Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR +$0.02),

Flat (1):

  • Biostage (BSTG)

Closing down (10 of 30):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$5.52 after Tuesday’s -$3.99 and Monday’s +$3.00),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$3.48 after Tuesday’s +$1.31 and Monday’s -$1.71),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA -$3.06 after Tuesday’s -$0.94 and Monday’s -$2.24),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$1.86 after Tuesday’s -$0.31 and Monday’s -$2.33),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$1.43 after Tuesday’s -$0.24 and Monday’s +$0.41),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$1.39 after Tuesday’s +$0.91 and Monday’s +0.64),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$1.38 after Tuesday’s -$0.89 and Monday’s +$1.55),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$1.28 after Tuesday’s -$0.39 and Monday’s -$0.24),
  • Ultragenyx (RARE -$1.23 after Tuesday’s -$0.48),
  • uniQure NV (QURE -$0.88),

 

September, Q3/2022:

  • Wednesday closed negative with 4 incliners, 30 decliners and 1 flat
  • Tuesday closed negative with 9 incliner, 26 decliners and 0 flat
  • Monday closed negative with 9 incliner, 26 decliners and 0 flat

 

The BOTTOM LINE: The sector ended the day in the RED - again!

Cell and gene therapy equities finished LOWER on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as investors accepted .75% or basis point as the close to a maybe final Fed’ rate decision

I try to keep it simple … and short!

With investors now increasingly pricing-in the prospect of a U.S. recession; more and more companies should be warned on the impact of fading share pricing i.e., demand and employment costs.

Traders and investors should be focused on which CEOs and management teams will step-up and BUY their company shares with personal capital!!

Extra problem coming … with another quarter about to close (Q3) … and back to earnings season!

September continued with 1 holiday, 7 positive and 7 negative closes; August is over with 1 neutral, 11 positive and 11 negative closes while last week which ended the month.

As I continually question, “The real question that should be asked is how many companies are at the end of sentiments …  leash?

Start by looking at cell and gene therapy companies trading below cash!” 

Repeating myself, “I find it very interesting to evaluate share price over earnings and a shortage of revenue reporting as a proxy for share pricing performance?”

I stick to my view of anticipating the risks – as my careers focus has been “warning analysis”.

 

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.