4 MedTech Stocks To Scoop Up Amid The Coronavirus Crisis

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been affecting stock prices worldwide for the past few weeks. After Mar 9, which has been termed as the ‘Black Monday’, investors have not seen any respite in the free fall of the benchmark indices in major markets. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) registered a 7.91% fall when the market closed on Mar 18.

Amid the turmoil, the stock market was dealt a fresh blow as Mar 18 witnessed another volatile trading session, reaching a three-year low. This resulted in panic selling as the number of coronavirus cases soared above 200,000. Per a report by yahoo! finance, this wiped out all the market gains made since Donald Trump became the President on Jan 20, 2017.

The Free Fall and Aftermath

Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1300 points on Mar 18, settling below the 20,000 mark — the lowest since February 2017. The S&P 500 plummeted as well, triggering a market-wide halt in trading before closing down by more than 5% on the day. A massive international trade loss is looming large, with an increasing number of canceled events and supply-chain interruptions.

The oil market has also been tumbling due to an unexpected oil price cut in Saudi Arabia last week. The price cut, which resulted from the price war initiated by Saudi Arabia with Russia on Mar 8, triggered a decline in oil prices worldwide. The situation worsened on Mar 18 when oil prices tanked 24.4%, the lowest level since February 2002.

Market watchers predict that the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the oil price crash may lead the economy to a recession.

Is There Any Respite for Investors?

Given the grim U.S. stock market scenario, investors may choose some MedTech stocks, which were impacted less. Here, we are talking about companies who are currently working on combating the pandemic as well as those who are not directly involved with the China market.

QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) has been maintaining a stable price movement over the past two weeks, even though it registered a sharp decline on Mar 11. In February, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) molecular diagnostics company shipped its latest QIAstat-Dx Respiratory Panel 2019-nCoV test kit to four hospitals in China for evaluation purposes. Its stock price picked up post the announcement. Meanwhile, the company is working to develop a QIAstat-Dx test kit to distinguish the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from 21 other serious respiratory infections. QIAGEN also announced that it will receive advanced development support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for this purpose. Over the past month, shares of QIAGEN have rallied 2.8% against the 15.1% decline of the broader industry.

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAPR) is a key clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and other rare disorders. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has been displaying a stable price movement over the past two weeks, even though it suffered two sharp falls on Mar 10 and Mar 12. Over the past month, the stock has fallen 18.8% compared with the 28.1% decline of the broader industry.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ:MASI) is a key medical technology company, working on a variety of non-invasive monitoring technologies and hospital automation. Over the past two weeks, shares of this Zacks Rank #2 company has traded quite impressively, even after it started on a disappointing note as the market opened. Over the past month, its shares have fallen 11.2% compared with the 25.4% decline of the broader industry.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is another clinical-stage biotechnology company, pioneering messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for patients. In February, this Zacks Rank #2 company announced that it shipped the first batch of the mRNA-1273 vaccine for the novel coronavirus to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health for a planned Phase 1 study in the United States. Over the past month, its shares have rallied 70.3% against the 15.1% decline of the broader industry.

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