Midday Watch: Biotech Rising Stars & $10 Gems You Can't-Miss

U.S. stocks held steady on Thursday after a record-setting session for equities, while Bitcoin stole the spotlight by surging more than 3% and breaking above $100,000 for the first time.

Market attention now shifts to Friday’s key U.S. employment data, with economists expecting 214,000 jobs to have been added in November, according to a Dow Jones survey. This labor report could be a critical factor in shaping the Federal Reserve’s next move at its policy meeting later this month.

As of 11:52 AM ET, the Dow was down -115.53 points, or -0.2567%, at $44898.52. The Nasdaq Composite lost -11.43 points, or -0.0532%, at $21480.9293. The S&P 500 declined -1.2 points, or -0.0197%, at $6085.28. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed negative movement, with Materials leading the way with a 1.56% decrease.

Top Movers: Under $10

Arcadia Biosciences Inc (RKDA) is up 194.03% today to trade at the current level of $7.93. This comes after the company announced a definitive securities exchange agreement with Roosevelt Resources LP which, when completed, will combine the two companies in an all-stock transaction.

Protara Therapeutics Inc (TARA) zoomed 108.75% in today’s trade to $7.39 after announcing results from its ongoing Phase 2 open-label ADVANCED-2 trial.

In current trading, Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc (MIGI) stock is at $1.10. The company noted that a media outlet earlier falsely reported that the Company had filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition.

PainReform Ltd (PRFX) rose 76.87% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $4.74 following the filing of the 6-K form with the SEC.

In the current trading session, Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc (GWAV) jumped 32.08% to $0.98 over a previous close of $0.74. The company is set to benefit from the 2025 opening of Nucor Corporation's state-of-the-art steelmaking facility in Lexington, North Carolina.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Bank Of America Corp (BAC) 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 $0.26 per share. It has fixed December 06 as the record date and will pay the actual dividend on December 27. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.98 to its shareholders. Based on last year's payments, BAC has a trailing yield of 2.08%, and the current stock price is $47.04.

Shares of General Motors Company (GM) 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 $0.36 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that GM has a trailing yield of 0.67% on the current share price of $53.46.

Tomorrow, Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from NDAQ will amount to $0.24 per share. December 06 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for December 20. In the previous year, NDAQ distributed a total of $0.92 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for NDAQ stands at 1.14% based on the current stock price of $80.96.

PepsiCo Inc (PEP) will be paying out a dividend of $1.35 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of December 06. Over the past 12 months, PEP has paid out a total of $5.24 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, PEP boasts an impressive trailing yield of 3.29% on the current share price of $159.23.

Crypto Market Highlights

• P2P.org is launching an integration with the TON blockchain, lowering staking caps for over 20 million active wallets on the network.

• South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) denied reports of plans to release a roadmap permitting corporate crypto accounts by the end of the year.

• BIT Mining reported that mining Dogecoin and Litecoin has been more profitable than mining only Bitcoin.

• Mt. Gox moved over 24,000 Bitcoin (worth nearly $2.5 billion) to an unknown address on Dec. 5 after Bitcoin hit $100,000.

• Hut 8, a North American Bitcoin mining company, announced a $250 million stock repurchase alongside a share sale program to fund growth initiatives, including buying Bitcoin as a strategic reserve.

Most Shorted Stocks

Novavax, Inc (NVAX) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 25.91% 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 6.5. This represents a change of 1530000 shares, which corresponds to a +3.83% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $347.02 million. The average daily volume stands at 6.09M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.34B.

The Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc with the symbol SPCE currently has a short interest of 26.47%. The short interest has changed by 270000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.6. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $46.32 million. On an average day, 1.63M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $186.53M.

For the stock Plug Power Inc (PLUG), the current short interest is at 23.73%. This represents a significant short interest change of -8040000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -3.59%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 4.6. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $501.56 million.

With the symbol SOUN, the stock currently has a short interest of 27.59%. The short interest change is 8580000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +11.03%. It would take approximately 3.4 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $2.81 billion. The company boasts an average daily volume of 29.30M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $4.80B.

The stock CRSP has a current short interest of 22.72%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +4.30% while there was a change of 800000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 14.8. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $4.34 billion. Trading activity averages at 1.39M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $4.28B.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

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

Our ST Score also classifies Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd ADR (CNTB) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 63. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak performance. The stock sentiment and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc (DMAC) has the ST Score of 58, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, and financial strength but weak in growth. Stock sentiment, Piotrowski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Lipocine Inc (LPCN) stock has the ST Score of 60 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, and financial strength. However, it shows a neutral outlook in performance, growth, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Champions Oncology Inc (CSBR) currently has the ST Score of 59, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, and growth, while its weak points are its financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast. The stock's Piotroski Score indicates a neutral outlook.

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

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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