Market Insights: Biotech Gems & Must-Watch $10 Stocks

The S&P 500 climbed on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak as strong earnings reports from Tesla and others fueled gains.

At 11:31 AM ET, the Dow was down -175.07 points, or -0.4118%, at $42339.89. The Nasdaq Composite added 127.8887 points, or 0.6373%, at $20194.844. The S&P 500 rose 7.6499 points, or 0.132%, at $5805.07. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed negative movement, with Financials leading the way with a -1.25% decrease.

Tesla led the rally, soaring more than 17% after its third-quarter results exceeded analyst expectations. Whirlpool and Lam Research also saw significant gains, rising 12.5% and 3.8%, respectively, on the back of better-than-expected earnings.

According to FactSet, over 32% of S&P 500 companies have reported third-quarter earnings so far, with 76% surpassing analyst estimates.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased on Thursday, boosting market sentiment after days of pressure from rising rates. The 10-year Treasury yield had topped 4.25% on Wednesday before pulling back, providing some relief for stocks.

Top Movers: Under $10

Nxu Inc (NXU) is up 231.00% today to trade at the current level of $0.83. This comes after the company announced proposed merger agreement with Verde Bioresins.

ZenaTech Inc. (ZENA) zoomed 30.11% in today’s trade to $2.29 after announcing that its subsidiary, ZenaDrone, is acquiring a United States Design Patent for a drone design pertaining to the second-generation drone design used in its ZenaDrone 1000 product.

In current trading, FREYR Battery Inc. (FREY) stock is at $1.15 following news that the European Union Innovation Fund has selected FREYR for a €122 million grant award to develop the Company’s potential joint venture Cathode Active Material manufacturing project in Vaasa, Finland.

Farmmi Inc (FAMI) rose 9.10% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.42. The company announced that the its subsidiary, FARMMI USA INC., has reached an agreement in principle with Mazon Technology LLC for strategic cooperation in warehousing and logistics services that could potentially bring in $10 million in annual orders for Farmmi USA.

In the current trading session, ADT Inc (ADT) jumped 11.93% to $7.75 over a previous close of $6.92 after reporting third quarter 2024 results.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Fastenal Co. (FAST) 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 $0.39 per share. It has fixed October 25 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on November 22. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.52 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, FAST has a trailing yield of 2.00% on the current stock price of $75.86.

Shares of Old Second Bancorporation Inc. (OSBC) will be the talk of stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.06 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.20 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that OSBC has a trailing yield of 1.21% on the current share price of $16.57.

SM Energy Co (SM) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from SM will amount to $0.2 per share. October 25 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for November 04. In the previous year, SM distributed a total of $0.69 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for SM stands at 1.64% based on the current stock price of $42.11.

Unum Group (UNM) will be paying out a dividend of $0.42 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of October 25. Over the past 12 months, UNM has paid out a total of $1.51 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, UNM boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.39% on the current share price of $63.38.

Crypto Market Highlights

• In response to rising political and market tensions, Consensys has urged the future U.S. president to establish clear and supportive regulations for cryptocurrencies and Web3.

• Kraken plans to debut its own blockchain, “Ink,” in early 2025, focusing on decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to facilitate trading, borrowing, and lending without intermediaries.

• Tether has proposed to the Turkish government the creation of tokens backed by borate minerals, suggesting the use of blockchain technology for this initiative.

• Synthetix has launched its v3 liquidity platform on Arbitrum, following a series of delays that led to a governance overhaul at the decentralized finance protocol.

• Base, an Ethereum layer-2 incubated by Coinbase, is enhancing decentralization with a new fault-proof system to verify transaction correctness ahead of its mainnet launch.

Most Shorted Stocks

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 20.68% 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 14.9. This represents a change of 20000 shares, which corresponds to a +0.11% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $823.39 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.09M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $3.99B.

The Omeros Corporation with the symbol OMER currently has a short interest of 21.55%. The short interest has changed by 90000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 36.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $51.06 million. On an average day, 294.40K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $247.74M.

For the stock C3.ai Inc (AI), the current short interest is at 20.73%. This represents a significant short interest change of 370000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +1.45%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 6.8. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $647.27 million.

With the symbol EDIT, the stock currently has a short interest of 20.36%. The short interest change is -2220000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -11.71%. It would take approximately 9.3 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $81.49 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.85M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $259.81M.

The stock DBI has a current short interest of 26.87%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -20.23% while there was a change of -2800000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 4.5. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $96.76 million. Trading activity averages at 2.40M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $320.51M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Entrada Therapeutics Inc (TRDA) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 64. The stock's profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Monopar Therapeutics Inc (MNPR) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 54. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of performance, and financial strength. However, it has weak profitability, and growth. The stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc (FENC) has the ST Score of 60, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score but weak in performance. Stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Benitec Biopharma Inc (BNTC) stock has the ST Score of 56 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 profitability, and growth. However, it shows neutral outlook in stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Equillium Inc (EQ) currently has the ST Score of 55, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its profitability, and performance, while its weak points are its financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast. The stock's growth, and Piotroski Score indicate a neutral outlook.