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.
Sema4 (SMFR)
-17%
Sema4 (SMFR), a patient-centric health intelligence company, traded down roughly 17% on Tuesday after reporting weaker than expected earnings. Sema4 missed on revenue mostly because of a slowdown in COVID-19 testing revenue which, in our view, is irrelevant to the company's long-term mission. While its 'platform approach' to precision healthcare isn't unique, we believe its Mount Sinai Health System heritage has imbued Sema4 with a deep understanding of physicians' needs.
Fate Therapeutics (FATE), a biopharmaceutical company that produces allogeneic cellular immunotherapies from renewable induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, traded down 17% on Friday after announcing data from its iNK cell programs. Although investors seem to be focused on the durability of the response, ARK believes that this data suggests a treatment profile preferable to autologous CART cell therapy. Autologous cell therapy is a novel therapeutic intervention that uses an individual's cells which are cultured and expanded outside the body and reintroduced into the donor, whereas allogeneic cell therapy relies on donor cells to treat many patients. Some benefits of allogeneic cell therapy include a decrease in cost and an increase in scalability, product consistency, and expanded access to the sickest patients.
Organovo (ONVO), a biotechnology company focused on 3D-bioprinting, traded up roughly 20% on Friday, possibly because investors and speculators are gaining confidence in management’s ability to maximize its 3D-bioprinting assets and deliver on a revitalized commercial strategy. We believe shares will be volatile until Organovo reveals more about its path forward.
Joby Aviation (JOBY), an air taxi company, has been volatile since completing its SPAC merger last week. On Friday, Joby traded up roughly 18% on little news except for a Seeking Alpha piece that described the business case for Joby and put a $10 price target on the stock.
