Latest news with #SPDRS&PBiotechETF
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI)?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/31/2006. Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors. Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%. The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $4.92 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. XBI seeks to match the performance of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index before fees and expenses. The S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index represents the biotechnology sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Biotech Index is a modified equal weight index. Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same. Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space. It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.16%. Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis. This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio. Looking at individual holdings, Exact Sciences Corp (EXAS) accounts for about 3.12% of total assets, followed by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALNY) and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NBIX). The top 10 holdings account for about 27.11% of total assets under management. So far this year, XBI has lost about -6.31%, and is down about -8.60% in the last one year (as of 06/12/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $69.80 and $104.18. The ETF has a beta of 0.86 and standard deviation of 30.70% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 129 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, XBI is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology ETF (FBT) tracks NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology ETF has $1.04 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $5.32 billion. FBT has an expense ratio of 0.56% and IBB charges 0.45%. To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI): ETF Research Reports Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB): ETF Research Reports Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Exact Sciences Corporation (EXAS) : Free Stock Analysis Report First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology ETF (FBT): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
06-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
JPMorgan's top biotech and pharma picks for the second half
Biopharmaceutical stocks' underperformance versus the broader market for a third-straight year is an opportunity for investors, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Chris Schott said in the firm's June outlook for biopharma that the sector's poor performance can be traced back to concerns over President Donald Trump's tariffs and his " most favored nation " executive order. The SPDR S & P Biotech ETF (XBI) has pulled back about 7% so far in 2025, while the S & P 500 has notched a nearly 2% gain. The stock action is overdone, according to Schott, as he expects any impact from this policy will be "manageable." Valuations are historically depressed, Schott said, which means the sector has already priced in the the worst possible outcome. "The sector [should be] able to largely mitigate the impact of tariffs in the mid/long term through manufacturing repatriation and 2) [there's] no clear path for MFN ["most favored nation"] to move forward without Congressional approval (outside of IRA price negotiations)," Schott said. Fundamentals for biopharma stocks have improved in recent years, which should support "a more manageable sales/EPS erosion outlook for most names," he added. Here's a look at some of JPMorgan's favorite biotech and pharma stocks heading into the second half of the year. All stocks on the list are rated overweight by the firm. Eli Lilly stock is among JPMorgan's top picks among the group. Shares are about flat in 2025, and have slipped roughly 8% over the past 12 months. The company agreed to purchase SiteOne Therapeutics in a roughly $1 billion deal last week , which could allow Lilly to develop non-opioid treatments for chronic pain conditions. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly stock in 2025. Developing non-opioid pain drugs is a key focus for the industry, with Vertex Pharmaceuticals recently approving its Journavx Nav1.8 inhibitor. About 84% of analysts polled by FactSet maintain a buy rating on Eli Lilly stock, with their consensus price target equating to nearly 29% upside. Gilead Sciences is also one of JPMorgan's top picks. Shares have soared more than 20% so far in 2025. GILD YTD mountain Gilead Sciences stock in 2025. Analysts surveyed by FactSet think the stock has more room to run after a strong first half of the year. Alongside a consensus buy rating, the average analyst price target calls for more than 5% upside. The company recently announced key phase three trial data tied to its Trodelvy cancer treatment that showed the drug lowered the risk of a severe form of breast cancer when used in combination with Merck 's Keytruda immunotherapy treatment. Other names on the list include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Myers Squibb .
CNBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
These biotech stocks will benefit as generative AI speeds up drug discovery, Jefferies says
Investors are underappreciating the impact generative artificial intelligence will have on biotech stocks, according to Jefferies. Biotech stocks have had a challenging couple of years, falling into a correction after an initial surge at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as they navigated a higher interest rate environment. More recently, tariffs and staffing reductions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have also hit the sector. The SPDR S & P Biotech ETF (XBI) is down more than 11% in 2025, while the S & P 500 has eked out a slight gain. XBI YTD mountain XBI Nevertheless, the sector is set to get a boost from the adoption of generative AI in drug discovery, which Michael Yee, senior biotech analyst at Jefferies, said will save companies years and billions of dollars in getting new drugs to market. "We know that biotech is a billion dollars to find a drug, up to 10 years to get a drug to market, and 90% of drugs fail," Yee told CNBC's David Faber on "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. "So, we think that based on analysis and some of the technologies these companies are doing, you can cut the drug time by years, and cut the probabilities significantly in half to get drugs to market, and that can save billions of dollars and increase the odds of success and return on investment for companies and investors." "It is very early stage, and we're out there saying, five years from now, we think we'll see tremendous progress in drugs that are in the clinic from test tubes today that were basically done using generative AI," Yee continued. "We can cut a 10 year process, we'd be down to seven of eight years." To be sure, there are some near-term regulatory challenges the sector is facing, but Yee said he expects that any downside from negative headlines is already priced into the stocks. "We're actually optimistic for the rest of the year," he said. Here are some stocks poised to benefit: Amgen , one of the world's largest biotech companies, is one firm integrating generative AI to analyze human datasets for its research. The buy-rated stock is up 7% this year, according to the CNBC analyst consensus tool. Software company Schrodinger is set to benefit from increased research and development spending, using machine learning in drug discovery programs. The stock is up 11% this year. Illumina , which develops systems for genetic variation analysis, and Danaher, a life sciences and diagnostics company, are two other companies to benefit. The stocks are down 38% and 17% this year, respectively.
Wall Street Journal
11-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How to Play the Biotech Meltdown in the Age of RFK Jr. and Tariffs
The U.S. biotech sector had already been through a brutal few years before the latest market crash. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shake-up of the nation's health agencies and persistently high interest rates are prompting it to sink even faster than the broader market, despite so far avoiding the worst of the tariff fallout. More investors are even wondering if the whole model—risky science, costly funding, political uncertainty and long waits for payoffs—is simply broken. For many of the nearly 200 companies trading below their cash value, it probably is. That illustrates the pitfalls of passively investing in an index for this sector. Despite that bleak backdrop, there are still some opportunities for patient investors. After all, the U.S. is still the top spender on drugs by far. And that isn't something RFK Jr. or President Trump is likely to change. That isn't to play down the overall risk. Even before RFK Jr.'s appointment, biotech was already reeling. Wave after wave of bankruptcies, shelved drug programs and layoffs had hollowed out the sector. Dozens of companies that went public during the pandemic-era boom have been locked out of capital markets. Over the past five years, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), which tracks small- and midcap biotech stocks, has lost 14%, while the S&P 500 has gained 89%. Just as markets began to hope for relief from falling interest rates, RFK Jr. delivered a fresh shock. His firing late last month of Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration official overseeing vaccines and biologics, along with mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, has investors and biotech executives worried drugs could now face arbitrary delays or politicized decision-making. For instance, one Massachusetts-based biotech had its FDA dispute-resolution process suspended after staff warned there might not be enough senior officials left to review it. There are also concerns about long-term funding. The Trump administration's budget cuts at the National Institutes of Health are clouding the sector's innovation pipeline, while China's growing biotech industry is siphoning off deals. Even without direct tariffs, Trump's threat of 'sectoral' levies on imported pharmaceuticals is chilling investment. Deal flow, too, has dried up. Eli Lilly LLY -4.35%decrease; red down pointing triangle Chief Executive David Ricks recently warned that if drugmakers can't raise prices to offset tariffs, they will be forced to scale back research and development. Yet there are countervailing forces at play. There is, for example, a push to rescue U.S. biotech before China, which heavily subsidizes its industry, emerges as the clear winner. On Tuesday, a bipartisan congressional commission called for $15 billion in funding to jump-start biotech research and manufacturing over the next five years. 'We lost our leadership in semiconductors, and we are close to losing that position in biotech if we don't act now,' said Sen. Todd Young (R., Ind.), who chaired the commission. 'We can either make targeted investments now, or we can wait and pay a very heavy price in terms of economic and national security.' Conditions at the FDA might also not be as bad as the market fears. Despite RFK Jr.'s purge, the agency is still approving drugs at a normal pace for now, points out John Crowley, CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the industry's main trade group. Industry leaders are closely watching whether new Commissioner Marty Makary, a respected Johns Hopkins surgeon, will install strong scientific leadership to replace officials being ousted by RFK Jr. And Marks's interim replacement, Scott Steele, has also been well-received by the industry. 'We believe he will be seen as a science-forward hire,' Mizuho strategist Jared Holz wrote. Crowley even suggested that a revamped FDA could end up easing drug approvals. Large-cap names like Gilead GILD -3.66%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Vertex VRTX -1.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle are one obvious place to hide out from the storm. These companies have outperformed the broader market this year, thanks to strong growth and U.S.-centric operations that shield them from tariff shocks. And the biotech washout is also creating attractive discounts in smaller companies still poised for growth. Take CG Oncology CGON -0.84%decrease; red down pointing triangle, focused on bladder cancer, and Cytokinetics CYTK 1.42%increase; green up pointing triangle, developing treatments for heart disease. Both are down sharply this year despite potential FDA approval for new treatments that would create opportunities in large markets. Or consider Alnylam Pharmaceuticals ALNY -6.98%decrease; red down pointing triangle and BridgeBio Pharma BBIO -1.73%decrease; red down pointing triangle, both of which recently won regulatory approval for therapies to rival Pfizer's blockbuster heart drug for ATTR cardiomyopathy. While these companies have held up better than the industry, in a healthier market their stocks would be up much more. Biotech, as an industry, is going through a brutal shake out. But individually, a select crop of more mature companies will weather the storm. Write to David Wainer at
Reuters
13-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Stifel ordered by FINRA to pay $132.5 million damages to US family
March 13 (Reuters) - Stifel Financial (SF.N), opens new tab was ordered by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel to pay a family $132.5 million for misrepresenting the risk of complex structured notes, causing what their lawyer called "staggering" losses. The three-member panel on Wednesday awarded $26.5 million in compensatory damages, $79.5 million in punitive damages and $26.5 million for legal fees to David Jannetti, of Miami Beach, Florida, and his children Sarah, Adam and Leah, from New York. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. Stifel said on Thursday it will appeal, calling the Jannettis "a sophisticated family of experienced and aggressive investors" who understood the risks, helped choose the investments, monitored them closely and complained only after losing money. The Jannettis asked a Miami federal judge to confirm the award, which was imposed against the Stifel, Nicolaus wealth management and investment banking unit. A $132.5 million award equals 19% of the St. Louis-based parent's profit in 2024. In an interview, the Jannettis' lawyer, Jeffrey Erez, said the case concerned so-called auto-callable contingent coupon notes. He said the Stifel broker did not understand the risks of the notes, whose value was linked to the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI.P), opens new tab and stocks such as DocuSign (DOCU.O), opens new tab, Dynatrace (DT.N), opens new tab, Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), opens new tab and Twilio (TWLO.N), opens new tab. The Jannettis ended up losing "a staggering amount of money" - about $60 million over three years, the vast majority of what they invested - after Stifel overconcentrated their money in the notes, Erez said. "We're extremely pleased" with the award, Erez said. "This is a strong message to Stifel and other broker-dealers that if you don't enforce industry and compliance rules, there will be accountability." Stifel ended 2024 with 2,229 financial advisers and $501 billion of assets under management.
