Market Brief: Leading Biotech & $10 Stock Movers

Thursday saw stocks rise as they bounced back after a mixed session, driven by strong U.S. economic data.

As of 11:32 AM ET, the Dow was up 185.7891 points, or 0.4433%, at $42100.54. The Nasdaq Composite added 73.81 points, or 0.3696%, at $20046.4154. The S&P 500 rose 12.4102 points, or 0.2169%, at $5734.67. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 9 showed negative movement, with Energy leading the way with a -1.65% decrease.

Micron (MU) surged 14% after delivering strong guidance for the current quarter, with its fiscal Q4 results beating analysts’ expectations. Semiconductor peers Applied Materials (AMAT) and Lam Research (LRCX) followed suit, both climbing 6%.
A batch of economic data reinforced confidence in the economy, easing concerns about potential Federal Reserve rate cuts due to economic slowdown.

Jobless claims dropped more than expected, signaling a resilient labor market, while August durable goods orders were flat compared to anticipated declines. The final Q2 GDP reading remained a solid 3%.

Top Movers: Under $10

Telesis Bio Inc (TBIO) is up 67.46% today to trade at the current level of $3.88. This comes after the company announced collaboration with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences to revolutionize DNA and mRNA synthesis.

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp (KTTA) zoomed 60.71% in today’s trade to $6.18 after announcing safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic (PK) and preliminary efficacy data from the first 2 cohorts of patients (n=6) in its Phase 1 clinical trial of PAS-004, being conducted at four clinical sites in the United States.

In current trading, ZW Data Action Technologies Inc (CNET) stock is at $0.67 after announcing reverse stock split.

Datasea Inc (DTSS) rose 15.85% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $2.34 after announcing fiscal year 2024 financial results with revenue 6.6x that of 2023 primarily due to growth of its 5G AI business.

In the current trading session, BlackSky Technology Inc (BKSY) jumped 15.52% to $4.69 over a previous close of $4.06 following the announcement of its new U.S. Navy research contract for Gen-3 Advanced Optical Intersatellite Links, signaling strong confidence in its innovative technology and future growth potential.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

CTS Corp. (CTS) 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 $0.04 per share. It has fixed September 27 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on October 25. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.16 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CTS has a trailing yield of 0.33% on the current stock price of $48.26.

Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc (KDP) will be the talk of stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.23 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.86 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that KDP has a trailing yield of 2.29% on the current share price of $37.51.

Tomorrow, Medtronic Plc (MDT) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from MDT will amount to $0.7 per share. September 27 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for October 11. In the previous year, MDT distributed a total of $2.77 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for MDT stands at 3.12% based on the current stock price of $88.85.

Nucor Corp. (NUE) will be paying out a dividend of $0.54 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of September 27. Over the past 12 months, NUE has paid out a total of $2.13 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, NUE boasts an impressive trailing yield of 1.41% on the current share price of $151.17.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Investment fund Maelstrom has granted funding to Bitcoin Core developer Jon Atack for his work on the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) repository. 

• Telegram's tap-to-earn Web3 game Hamster Kombat celebrates its HMSTR token's listing on exchanges, despite a rapid decline in its price.

• The Avalanche Foundation has announced a $40 million grant to support the development of layer-1 blockchains on its network.

• South Korea’s personal information regulator fined the Worldcoin Foundation and Tools For Humanity 1.1 billion Korean won ($829,000) for breaching personal information protection laws.

• Ethena Labs is developing a new stablecoin backed by a tokenized fund from BlackRock for its decentralized stablecoin protocol.

  Most Shorted Stocks

Cassava Sciences Inc (SAVA) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 33.16% 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 4.6. This represents a change of 100000 shares, which corresponds to a +0.63% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $497.19 million. The average daily volume stands at 3.49M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.50B.

The Trupanion Inc with the symbol TRUP currently has a short interest of 37.28%. The short interest has changed by -260000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 17.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $469.49 million. On an average day, 656.66K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $1.78B.

For the stock Lemonade Inc (LMND), the current short interest is at 32.72%. This represents a significant short interest change of -120000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -0.71%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 11.3. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $287.28 million.

With the symbol GES, the stock currently has a short interest of 33.05%. The short interest change is -450000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -4.83%. It would take approximately 8.3 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $328.64 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.05M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $1.01B.

The stock NKLA has a current short interest of 31.45%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +6.13% while there was a change of 850000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 4.4. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $37.12 million. Trading activity averages at 3.32M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $211.95M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd ADR (CNTB) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 62. The stock's profitability, growth, and financial strength are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of performance, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Champions Oncology Inc (CSBR) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 61. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, growth, and stock sentiment. However, it has weak financial strength, and forecast. The performance, and Piotroski Score are neutral.

Another stock in the category, X.T.L. Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. ADR (XTLB) has the ST Score of 57, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, and financial strength but weak in Piotroski Score. Growth, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc (DMAC) stock has the ST Score of 58 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its growth. However, it shows neutral outlook in stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Bright Minds Biosciences Inc (DRUG) currently has the ST Score of 58, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its financial strength, and stock sentiment. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, Piotroski Score, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

Best Regards,
Stocks Telegraph Team