IBB Posts Impressive Weekly Gains
IBB Sees Its Best Weekly Gain to Date in 2016
IBB posts impressive gains
The week ended February 19, 2016, was the best week for the Market to date in 2016. The S&P 500 rose ~2.8% for the week, though the Market lost marginally on February 19, 2016. The S&P 500 closed at 1,917.8, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 16,392.
Biotech ETFs also rose impressively for the week in what were probably their best weekly gains to date in 2016. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 7.3%, and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) rose 3.8%.
The above graph reflects the week’s performance of IBB, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), IBB’s top performers, and IBB’s bottom performer for the week ended February 19, 2016. IBB closed the week at $261.83, trading below its 20-day moving average. Its five-day average trading volume stood at 2.3 million shares per day. Year-to-date (or YTD) the stock has returned -22.6%.
Winners and losers
Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) was one of IBB’s top performers, with a gain of 36.5% for the week ended February 19, 2016. The stock rose on higher trading volume of ~1.7 million shares per day. This was due to investors’ expectations about the company’s upcoming 2015 results to be announced on February 23, 2016.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals is trading above its 20-day moving average price of $107. It has book value of $27.95, and with its current price, the stock is trading at a price-to-book value (or PBV) of 4.6x.
Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) is the other stock that rose for the week ended February 19, 2016, with a gain of 30.3%. JUNO closed at $35.62 and was trading above its 20-day moving average.
The biggest loser for the week was Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB), which fell ~9.8%. The stock closed at $8.06 and was trading below its 20-day moving average price of $10.
PACB has a book value of $0.47, and with its current price, the stock is trading at a PBV of 17.2x.
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