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BTIG analyst Mark Massaro views the two-day weakness in Berkeley Lights following a short report as a buying opportunity. Massaro says he interviewed three of the 14 large Berkeley Lights users referenced in the short report and the tone and substance of the conversations "with the same users were starkly different."

Berkeley Lights management affirmed the claims in the short report are not accurate, and that the "small amount of truth emanated from some technical issues" the company encountered a few years ago are resolved, Massaro tells investors in a research note. The analyst's customer checks unveiled that Berkeley Lights provides "major time savings (in months) to the world's largest biopharma companies."

This more than justifies the $2M price tag for the BLI Beacon system, given user testimonials that "time is money," contends the analyst. He would buy the stock on weakness and reiterates a Buy rating on the name with a $65 price target.

The stock in afternoon trading is down 17% to $21.99.