We share weekly commentaries with investors on stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15% in a day during the course of the week. We hope you find this commentary useful.
Evogene (EVGN)
+27%
Evogene (EVGN), a computational biology company, traded up 27% last Monday. One of its subsidiaries, Lavie Bio - an ag-bio company focused on creating microbiome-based products - updated its product pipeline and announced that LAV211, a bio-stimulant targeting spring wheat, is likely to launch commercially in 2022.
Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT), a leading clinical-stage messenger RNA therapy company focused on the development of infectious disease vaccines, closed down approximately 54% last Tuesday after announcing its COVID-19 Phase I/II data. While investors appear to be disappointed that its neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) were lower than the levels associated with competitive vaccines, Arcturus’s vaccine induced a stronger cellular response - importantly T-cells – which could prove more potent and durable against SARS-CoV-2.
Pinduoduo (PDD) jumped 15% last Tuesday after news broke that China would ramp up pressure on Alibaba – the largest e-commerce player in China. Chinese regulators have targeted Alibaba with an anti-monopoly investigation. Pinduoduo is the fastest-growing e-commerce platform in China and, with more than 731 million annual active buyers, the second-largest player.
908 Devices (MASS), a life-science tools company that focuses on microscale mass spectrometry, traded down 16% last Tuesday, likely a normal correction to its 200%+ surge after going public several weeks ago. ARK believes that 908's miniaturization of mass spectrometry will accelerate the pace of translational and discovery-stage biological research.
LendingClub (LC) closed up 25% last Thursday after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved its Radius Bank acquisition. If the Federal Reserve approves LendingClub’s application to become a bank holding company, the OCC will allow Radius Bank to convert from a federal savings association to a national bank owned by LendingClub.
