What Happened?
Shares of diagnostics company Guardant Health (NASDAQ: GH) jumped 1.2% in the afternoon session after multiple financial analysts issued positive ratings on the stock. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed its "Buy" rating with a $65 price target ahead of the company's investor day.
Similarly, BTIG Research also restated a "Buy" rating and maintained a $70 price target.
Adding to the bullish sentiment, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on the stock, setting an "overweight" rating and a $72 price objective. The collective confidence from these firms signaled a positive outlook for the company's performance, which appeared to boost investor interest.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $60.40, up 1% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Guardant Health’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 39 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 13 days ago when the stock dropped 5% on the news that markets pulled back, reversing early gains, as investor sentiment remained cautious despite a softer-than-expected inflation reading.
Stocks rose in the morning session after an unexpected drop in the Producer Price Index (PPI) for August signaled easing inflation and raised expectations for a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the PPI, which measures wholesale prices, edged down 0.1% the previous month, contrary to analyst expectations for a 0.3% rise. This data gives the Federal Reserve more flexibility to consider lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy.
Guardant Health is up 90.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $60.40 per share, it is still trading 10.4% below its 52-week high of $67.42 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Guardant Health’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $570.62.
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