The sector seems to be quieting down a little and perhaps a little bit of consolidation of the recent move is in the cards. All in all, however, it seems like a productive week for the sector and confirms my base case that the likely path moving forward is higher (with the obvious pullbacks sprinkle […]
September 13 Biotech Update
I was a little late heading into the office this morning and had not been following the news and so I was a little surprised to see the market down so much. This is oddly schizophrenic on really little news. Down big on Friday on a rate hike tantrum (a little dramatic but understandable). Up […]
August 22 Biotech Update
The sector is doing well on the consummation of the long courtship of MDVN. I will be back with my commentary this week but am still not quite back to the usual routine. The kids still do not have school, so these will be shorter than usual this week but next week when everything is […]
August 8 Biotech Update
The sector seems to be struggling a little but it would not be stunning to see some underperformance and consolidation after the recent run. We continue to get earnings headlines but the vast majority of sector moving calls and earnings are passed. 1. EPZM reported earnings and there is nothing new in it, so it […]
August 5 Biotech Update
I was not going to write today but snuck into office with my kids in tow for a quick note on BMY. 1. This was a major surprise and critically important for BMY. ISI wrote that they believed the first line NSCLC market was $7B-$8B of the $12B 2021 opdivo estimates. That is pure speculation […]
August 3 Biotech Update
It is more of the same but we had a nice late day rumor yesterday that triggered a reversal higher. Outside of that rumor not much in the way of news. While these rumors tend to be a nice source of intraday moves, these are generally not sustainable as even if they are true, the […]
July 14 Biotech Update
The market continues to ramp higher but about halfway through yesterday the bottom fell out of the biotech sector and it has been struggling ever since despite the strength in the broader markets. It is not immediately clear what was the cause (seems temporally to correlate with Andrew Left noting that he is short VRX […]
June 10 Biotech Update
We are having a decent pullback yesterday and this morning. Many are still frustrated with the sector and are getting the feeling of “here we go again” but pullbacks happen in bull markets. This is not to say that we are in the midst of a new bio-bull market but that we should not run […]
June 6 Biotech Update
It’s the Monday after ASCO started and it is time to declare the winners and losers. Even when we have definitive data this is often a less than precise undertaking and this is especially the case this year when the data are early and incremental. So I will spend today talking about why the consensus […]
May 27 Biotech Update
Yesterday was not a great day but after the run having a treading water sort of trading is not the worst outcome. At the worst, we were trading in line with the market and the key will be what we do after the recent move has been digested. The trend has been higher, so the […]
May 5 Biotech Update
We saw more of the same selling yesterday. It was across the market but it certainly felt like the sector led to the downside and failed to bounce when the market came back a little. Today is off to a better start but at this point I am not sure anyone thinks it will stick […]
March 28 Biotech Update
We start the week with some biotech news although not the M&A that many expect. I will be interested to see how MDVN trades given its takeover speculation at the end of last week. In any case, we got real news and for the most part it is positive, so the key now is for […]
March 24 Biotech Update
The week has not been ending how it started and this is always the risk with short covering rallies. Without real long term buyers, they are going to be susceptible to large swings. SMID biotechs that were up nicely from the lows are suddenly down 10%+ on a day on no news. While this is […]
February 19 Biotech Update
We are getting the pullback after that quick rip your face off rally and so now is the real moment of truth. Did the rally simply reset the relative strength to allow another leg lower or will buyers step in and buy this pullback? As I noted before there is no way of knowing and […]
February 3 Biotech Update
The market remains tied to oil and while sentiment remains negative on oil it still has not made a new low. This is not to say that a new low is not coming but as long as it does not make a lower low, it is at least some positive for the market. Ultimately, we […]
January 29 Biotech Update
It was obviously another bad day for the sector. The technicals look broken. The headlines are all about pricing. Buyers are on strike. There are no real exciting near term catalyst. Despite all of the negatives, there is some reason for hope at least over the medium term. 1. ISI had an impromptu call yesterday […]
January 25 Biotech Update
It is a mixed start to the week but at least we have some biotech news to talk about even if it is not exactly what was expected. That being said I still think we are in a macro driven market and it will be hard for any sector to avoid the headwinds (or tailwinds) […]
January 6 Biotech Update
The year is really off to a bad start and I am not sure what will reverse it. You have continued bad news with China, which is continuing the rout in commodities and strengthening the dollar killing emerging markets and it seems like the US market. Outside of some bright spots in the service sector, […]
December 30 Biotech Update
Nothing newsworthy for the sector has happened in the past day. We had a nice rally the other day and perhaps that continues with a positive bias into the end of the year as investors and traders finish up the year but with volumes drying up it is really a toss-up how it will trade. […]
October 12 Biotech Update
Another start to the week and another week without the M&A that many think is needed to move the sector higher. I worry a little about that argument as one would like to see the sector move higher off of fundamentals and not adding more and more takeover premiums into stocks. That being said I […]
