Pharma Earnings Reports Are Moving The Markets

TL;DR

• Pharmaceuticals are moving the markets
• AI tech is continuing to make waves
• Top weekly and monthly trades

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Major events that could affect your portfolio

Pharma is big in the news this week, with several big-name health care companies making headlines for a multitude of reasons, from new vaccines and earnings to acquisitions.

New Covid vaccines, for example, will become available in the U.S. this fall. Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax have all updated single-strain shots, though public health officials expect uptake to be low. In fact, CDC data indicates that just 17% of the U.S. population has gotten the bivalent boosters approved last September.

In June, the FDA advised drugmakers to update the Covid booster shots to target XBB.1.5, which is currently the predominant strain in the United States. The goal was to give drugmakers enough time to make the boosters available in the fall, and all the major players seem to be on target thus far.

Despite the new vaccines coming, the low demand was a culprit in Pfizer’s earnings miss. The company’s revenue was just $12.7 billion for the second quarter, which fell short of the $13.4 billion analysts predicted. Meanwhile, Moderna’s Q2 report revealed $344 million in revenue, which was sharply down from last year but still beat estimates.

In other news, Biogen has announced plans to buy Reata Pharmaceuticals for $7.3 billion. The deal would add the new drug Skyclarys to Biogen’s portfolio, which treats a rare neurological disorder and has massive sales potential. Biogen shares were flat at the news, but Reata shares skyrocketed close to 50%.

Also within the healthcare space, Amazon Clinic has fully rolled out across all of the U.S. states. The online shopping behemoth has been trying to break into healthcare for years, having completed a $3.7 billion takeover of OneMedical earlier this year.

The virtual platform is a conduit for users to connect with telemedicine partners that can help with everyday ailments like headaches, sinus care and acne.

The ups and downs in healthcare stocks is a reminder of the importance of a diversified and balanced portfolio. Investors would be wise to mix up their investments to spread risk and reward.

Q.ai’s Value Vault Kit is worth checking out for sturdy financials and relatively low valuations to help you diversify in these times.

This week’s top theme from Q.ai

As per usual, AI-powered tech is taking up space on the internet with innovative companies, both large and small, dropping developments every other day.

For one, Google recently announced its new Robotics Transformer 2 (RT-2) model, which is training robots to complete simple household tasks. Set to revolutionize the robotics industry, Google shared in a blog post that the robot can understand and respond to basic user commands.

Alibaba has also launched two new AI large language models (LLMs), Qwen-7B and Qwen-7B-Chat, which are smaller versions of the previously announced Tongyi Qianwen AI model. This marks the first time a Chinese company has made such a move and mirrors Meta’s launch last month.

As artificial intelligence continues to move markets, investors can invest in it with it. By exploring Q.ai’s Emerging Tech Kit, you can diversify your tech investments and tap into some of those companies at the helm of AI innovation… with AI helping you do it.

Top trade ideas

Here are some of the best ideas our AI systems are recommending for the next week and month.

Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (DRVN) – The automotive services company is our Top Buy for next week with our AI giving them an A and B rating in our Technical and Momentum Volatility factors, respectively. Total revenue growth over the last 12 months is 27.9%.

Verastem Inc. (VSTM) – This biopharmaceutical company, focused on cancer treatments, is our Top Short for next week with our AI giving it an F rating in Quality Value.

Euronet Worldwide Inc. (EEFT) – The provider of global electronic payment services is our Top Buy for next month with an A rating in our AI’s Growth and Quality Value factors. Total revenue growth over the last 12 months is 10.5%.

Sigilon Therapeutics Inc. (SGTX) – Sigilon Therapeutics, which develops functional cures for patients with a broad range of acute and chronic diseases, is our Top Short for next month with our AI giving them a C and D in our Technical and Momentum Volatility factors, respectively.

Our AI’s Top ETF trades for the next month are to invest in ARK ETFs and to treasury bonds and large-cap stocks. Our Top Buys for the month are ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) and ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). Our Top Shorts for the month are iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) and Invesco FTSE RAFI US 1000 ETF (PRF).

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