What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after worries over worsening trade relations with China were triggered by critical comments from President Donald Trump.
The president's tone and the suggestion of canceling a meeting with President Xi caused a rapid sell-off in the market. The trade dispute flared up after China imposed export controls on rare earth minerals, which are critical components for high-tech manufacturing. The escalation of the trade war raises concerns about supply chain disruptions and increased costs for technology companies, which are heavily reliant on global trade, leading to a broad sell-off in the sector.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Outpatient & Specialty Care company LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ: LFST) fell 5.4%. Is now the time to buy LifeStance Health Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Drug Development Inputs & Services company Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA) fell 5.9%. Is now the time to buy Azenta? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Genomics & Sequencing company PacBio (NASDAQ: PACB) fell 9.2%. Is now the time to buy PacBio? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Medical Devices & Supplies - Imaging, Diagnostics company GE HealthCare (NASDAQ: GEHC) fell 5.1%. Is now the time to buy GE HealthCare? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Medical Devices & Supplies - Cardiology, Neurology, Vascular company ICU Medical (NASDAQ: ICUI) fell 2.8%. Is now the time to buy ICU Medical? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On PacBio (PACB)
PacBio’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 80 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 2 days ago when the stock gained 9.3% on the news that the National Institute on Aging's Long Life Family Study (LLFS) selected its technology to generate comprehensive genomic data.
The study planned to use PacBio's Revio systems to analyze data from as many as 7,800 participants. This major research effort was designed to shed light on why longevity runs in families and what factors contribute to healthier aging. The selection served as a significant endorsement of the company's long-read sequencing solutions. This news followed a separate positive announcement from the previous trading day regarding an expanded partnership with seqWell, a provider of genomic workflow solutions, which had already contributed to positive investor sentiment.
PacBio is down 22.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $1.40 per share, it is trading 47.2% below its 52-week high of $2.65 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of PacBio’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $106.71.
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