Deep Dive
By Philip van Doorn
Published: Feb 28, 2020 9:39 am ET
The company whose stock has risen the most is working on drug trials to fight COVID-19
Gilead Sciences is holding drug trials to see if its Remdesivir medication is effective against the COVID-10 virus.
In any market environment, there are exceptions to the trend. But there aren’t many this time.
Since the S&P 500
SPX-2.85%
hit its last closing record on Feb. 19, the index has skidded 12% — and only seven of the component stocks haven’t declined through the close on Feb. 27. See the list below.
Before you get there, here’s a list of stocks in the index that took the worst beatings, along with a summary of how the 11 sectors performed.
It might surprise you that Tesla
TSLA-6.45%
isn’t on that list of decliners, but the electric car maker hasn’t yet met the requirements to be included in the S&P 500. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus strain known as COVID-19, it appeared likely to be added to the index by the end of 2020. Tesla’s stock was down nearly $100 (13%) on Feb. 27 to close at $679. The stock was down $238 (26%) since it set a closing record of $917.42 on Feb. 19.
Read: Tesla’s stock tumbles toward biggest-ever weekly drop
So here are the exceptions — seven S&P 500 stocks that rose in price between Feb. 19 and Feb. 27:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Price change since Feb. 19 | Price change - 2020 | Decline from 52-week high | Price change - 2019 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. |
GILD-5.95%
| Biotechnology | 7.9% | 11.8% | -7.9% | 3.9% |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. |
REGN-0.65%
| Biotechnology | 7.7% | 14.9% | -8.2% | 0.5% |
| Clorox Co. |
CLX-6.26%
| Household/Personal Care | 2.3% | 9.9% | -3.1% | -0.4% |
| E-Trade Financial Corp. |
ETFC-2.59%
| Investment Banks/Brokers | 2.3% | 1.3% | -19.8% | 3.4% |
| CME Group Inc. Class A |
CME-5%
| Investment Banks/Brokers | 1.4% | 4.8% | -6.6% | 6.7% |
| Newmont Corp. |
NEM-7.61%
| Precious Metals | 0.8% | 7.1% | -9.4% | 25.4% |
| Cboe Global Markets Inc. |
CBOE-5.01%
| Investment Banks/Brokers | 0.7% | 1.0% | -5.2% | 22.7% |
| Source: FactSet |
You can click the tickers for more about each company.
• Gilead Sciences
GILD-5.95%
has announced two Phase 3 clinical studies to measure the effectiveness of its Remdesivir medication in countering COVID-19 infections. The company’s Feb. 26 press release has more details. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee rates Gilead a “buy,” but wrote in a note to clients on Feb. 26 that although he is pleased that fighting the virus is a ‘very high priority” for Gilead’s management, “the financial implications are modest (pricing, one-time use, no tail).”
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
REGN-0.65%
ws upgraded to a “Buy” by Jefferies analyst Biren Amin on Feb. 25, because he believes competitive risk to the company’s Eylea macular degeneration therapy has been minimized because of safety concerns over Novartis AG’s
NVS-2.65%
CH:NOVN-5.15%
Beovu medication.
• Clorox
CLX-6.26%
is an obvious defensive stock during a time when people are concerned about the spread of a deadly virus and reaching for bleach. But Charles Lemonides, founder of ValueWorks LLC in New York, argued that for long-term investors, Clorox’s high valuation to earnings actually makes it a risky stock.
• E-Trade Financial
ETFC-2.59%
agreed on Feb. 20 to be acquired by Morgan Stanley
MS-2.58%
in an all-stock deal valued at $58.74 a share at that time. E-Trade’s shares closed at $45.95 Thursday. The deal calls for an exchange of 1.0432 Morgan Stanley shares for every E-Trade share. Morgan Stanley’s shares closed at $45.41 on Feb. 27, so based on those numbers, E-Trade’s takeout price would be $47.37.
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2020-02-28 14:39:00Z
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