Small & Mid Cap Life Science Stock Portfolio: Some Good Picks In A Stalled Sector
Image Source: Unsplash
- Biotech stocks have stalled, but these stock picks have done well.
- This week looks set to have a major impact on the market, with another 0.25% rise expected this week despite moderating inflation.
- I am looking for a shift from large caps to small and mid caps in the general market.
A pivotal week looks to be shaping up with the usual macro concerns arising, such as a Fed meeting and big earnings (like VRTX, PFE, BDX, & REGN) waiting just around the corner. A negative factor in such a busy week is the debt ceiling hangover which may linger until June. One possible path to help navigate around these macro factors is our small and mid cap stock picks that we have tracked since mid-January.
With megacap techs leading the market in 2023, such as AAPL, GOOGL, & MSFT, I was surprised to see most of these small and mid cap stocks doing well year-to-date. Some of the ones we bought in Q4 are doing even better. So, perhaps it’s time for a small cap growth comeback, as their business models are less affected by the Fed and banking issues.
However, the major small to mid cap ETFs are still lagging compared to large cap tech and the QQQ. With the lack of momentum in the sector, each stock pick needs to have compelling news or revenue growth.
As we have pointed out many times in the past, the primary indicator of the small cap life science sector is the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) which has been choppy lately, as it has been down over 3% in 2023 at its best. The IBB has fared a bit better, as it has been in an upward trend since October 2022 because of larger cap weighting.
So with that perspective, our small to mid cap picks have done well. We traded the XBI in and out, and we are back in at $80 which is a potential pivot point. All other positions are intact. Some of the stocks are momentum-driven and volatile, like CRSP, PACB, and VCYT, while others are longer-term plays, such as EVH, HOLX, and QDEL.
Large cap biopharma has also been doing well. That is, except for ABBV, which took a hit on a revenue miss. We will update and rebalance the portfolio after Q1 earnings. XBI appears choppy and stalled, while IBB has been maintaining a weak uptrend .
Note that I am long all of these stocks while also trading the XBI.
| P 1/20/23 | % Perf | 2/4/23 | 4/29/30 | ||||||||
| Company | Ticker | $ | P | % week | % Perf | P | Month % | YTD % | |||
| CRSPR Therap | CRSP | 49.61 | -25 | 55.27 | 4.72 | -15 | 48.94 | 11.61 | 20.39 | ||
| Cryoport | CYRX | 21.75 | -42.34 | 25.24 | 9.41 | -33 | 21.04 | -2.09 | 21.27 | ||
| Evolent Health | EVH | 30.83 | 13.74 | 31.96 | 2.21 | 17.91 | 36.41 | 19.38 | 29.67 | ||
| Geron | GERN | 3.19 | 9.24 | 3.22 | 3.59 | 10.27 | 2.46 | 13.36 | 1.65 | ||
| Hologic | HOLX | 79.66 | 22.41 | 84.68 | 2.28 | 30.14 | 86.01 | 9.11 | 14.97 | ||
| Pacific Biosci | PACB | 11.29 | 55.68 | 11.58 | -1.7 | 59.67 | 10.6 | 16.1 | 29.58 | ||
| Quidel/Ortho | QDEL | 88.13 | -11.56 | 89.7 | 3.93 | -9.98 | 89.95 | 2.85 | 5 | ||
| Supernus | SUPN | 40.3 | 12.3 | 41.61 | 2.29 | 15.95 | 36.86 | 1.29 | 3.34 | ||
| Veracyte | VCYT | 24.89 | 39.43 | 26.67 | 2.46 | 49.41 | 22.64 | 10 | -4.59 | ||
| SPDR Biotech | XBI | 86.99 | 14.75 | 90.39 | 1.12 | 19.24 | 80.21 | 7.72 | -3.37 | ||
| wildcard | |||||||||||
| Invitae | NVTA | 2.555 | – | 2.62 | 3.15 | 0.67 | 1.36 | 13.33 | -26.88 | ||
| 1 yr | |||||||||||
| iShares CoreS&P | IJR | 94 | -0.34 | -0.68 | -7.93 | ||||||
| iShares Russell | IWM | 175.2 | 1.01 | 0.48 | -8.01 | ||||||
| iShares BIO | IBB | 130.51 | 3.53 | -0.59 | 9.63 | ||||||
| NASDAQ-100 | QQQ | 322.56 | 5.03 | 21.14 | -1.66 | ||||||
| HealthcareSPDR | XLV | 133.53 | 5.1 | -1.71 | -0.15 | ||||||
| Energy SPDR | XLE | 85..13 | 5.38 | -2.68 | 10.37 | ||||||
| T.RowePrice | PRHSX | 90.88 | – | 1.18 | 2.45 | ||||||
More By This Author:
Healthcare Sector Update: MedTech Trending UpApril Is Busting Out For Healthcare And Biotech
Large Cap Biopharmaceuticals Q1 2023: In This Bullish Run Biotech Lags
Comments
