Biotech Breakouts: $10 Disruptors Taking the Lead

Stocks were little changed Thursday as investors weighed rising interest rates and concerns over ballooning U.S. debt. The 30-year Treasury yield jumped to 5.1%, its highest level since October 2023, after the House passed a sweeping bill that includes tax cuts and increased military spending—legislation the Congressional Budget Office estimates could add nearly $4 trillion to the deficit.

As of 11:30 AM ET, the Dow was down -58.92 points, or -0.1407%, at $41801.52. The Nasdaq Composite added 74.65 points, or 0.35%, at $21155.01. The S&P 500 declined -3.75 points, or -0.06%, at $5840.86. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed negative movement, with Consumer Defensive leading the way with a -0.78% decrease.

Despite the economic resilience, long-term borrowing costs are climbing. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield traded just below 4.6%, raising concerns that higher rates—combined with Trump’s newly imposed universal tariffs—could strain an economy already facing inflationary pressures.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Longevity Health Holdings Inc (XAGE) is up 4.34% today to trade at the current level of $41.83. This comes after the company announced continued Nasdaq listing to complete merger with 20/20 Biolabs.

Navitas Semiconductor Corp (NVTS) zoomed 131.15% in today’s trade to $4.41 after announcing a collaboration with NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) on their next-generation 800 V HVDC architecture to support ‘Kyber’ rack-scale systems powering their GPUs, such as Rubin Ultra, enabled by GaNFast™ and GeneSiC™ power technologies.

In current trading, Bon Natural Life Ltd (BON) stock is at $2.09 after announcing a non-exclusive sales cooperation agreement with Shanghai Risesun International Trade Co., Ltd., a leading functional ingredient distributor in China.

SEALSQ Corp (LAES) rose 10.43% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $3.81 after announcing the deployment of its advanced post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) technology to protect Bitcoin wallets from future quantum computer attacks.

In the current trading session, Vigil Neuroscience Inc (VIGL) jumped 242.64% to $7.91 over a previous close of $2.31 after announcing that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Sanofi.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Marriott International, Inc (MAR) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.67 per share. It has fixed May 23 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on June 30. Last year, the company distributed a total of $2.52 to its shareholders. Based on last year's worth of payments, MAR has a trailing yield of 0.97% on the current stock price of $260.35.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is WaFd Inc (WAFD), having a market capitalization of $2.31B. It will pay a dividend of $0.27 per share, the payment date of which is June 06. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.64%.

Shares of Viatris Inc (VTRS) will be the talk of the stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.12 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.48 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that VTRS has a trailing yield of 5.77% on the current share price of $8.32.

Tetra Tech, Inc (TTEK) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from TTEK will amount to $0.07 per share. May 23 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for June 05. In the previous year, TTEK distributed a total of $0.29 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for TTEK stands at 0.82% based on the current stock price of $35.34.

Spok Holdings Inc (SPOK) will be paying out a dividend of $0.31 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of May 23. Over the past 12 months, SPOK has paid out a total of $1.25 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, SPOK boasts an impressive trailing yield of 7.59% on the current share price of $16.47.

Crypto Market Highlights

• UK Court of Appeal partially dismissed Bitcoin SV investors' lawsuit against Binance and other exchanges over the 2019 token delisting.

• Cetus DEX on the Sui blockchain is suspected of suffering a major exploit, with over $200 million potentially drained.

• Crypto awareness in Singapore hits record high, with 94% of survey respondents familiar with at least one digital asset.

• A crypto trader spent $3.8 million to repurchase Ether at a higher price after selling it for nearly the same amount a month earlier.

• Dubai's updated crypto regulations introduce real-world asset tokenization rules and clarify requirements for token issuers.

Most Shorted Stocks

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 28.19% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 6.0. This represents a change of 280000 shares, which corresponds to a +2.68% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $40.63 million. The average daily volume stands at 4.32M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $157.57M.

The Novavax, Inc with the symbol NVAX currently has a short interest of 26.13%. The short interest has changed by 1300000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 7.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $299.7 million. On an average day, 8.27M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $1.15B.

For the stock MARA Holdings Inc (MARA), the current short interest is at 25.96%. This represents a significant short interest change of -510000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -0.56%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 2.3. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $1.46 billion.

With the symbol INMD, the stock currently has a short interest of 9.50%. The short interest change is 110000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +1.69%. It would take approximately 4.7 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $1.3 billion. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.44M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $991.91M.

The stock RILY has a current short interest of 48.05%. The short interest percentage has experienced a decrease of -6.37% while there was a change of -520000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 4.0. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $20.49 million. Trading activity averages at 1.98M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $94.54M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Genenta Science SpA ADR (GNTA) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 57. The stock's performance and financial strength are strong. However, its Piotroski Score is weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Immucell Corp (ICCC) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 62. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak financial strength. The growth, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Lisata Therapeutics Inc (LSTA) has the ST Score of 57, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in performance and financial strength, but weak in profitability. Growth, stock sentiment, Piotroski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Benitec Biopharma Inc (BNTC) stock has the ST Score of 59 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its performance and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Edesa Biotech Inc (EDSA) currently has the ST Score of 57, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its financial strength. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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