Stock Market Rollercoaster Presses Forward On July 23 – $EPRX $GME $LMT $LTRN $MODD $SHW $SPOT Rise!

By John F. Heerdink, Jr.

The stock market experienced a bit of a mixed session on July 23, 2024, with major indices showing slight declines while small-cap stocks outperformed. As reported by Reuters, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all closed marginally lower, while the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks jumped 1.1%. Earnings reports drove individual stock movements, with companies like UPS declining on missed estimates while others like Spotify saw significant gains.

Market Indices Performance

The major U.S. stock indices showed mixed performance on July 23, 2024, with slight declines in the S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%)[1]. In contrast, the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks continued its recent outperformance, surging 1.1% and extending its July gains to an impressive 9.6%[1]. This divergence highlights the current market dynamics, where smaller companies are outpacing their larger counterparts. Year-to-date, the Nasdaq Composite leads with a 19.9% gain, followed by the S&P 500 at 16.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average trails at 7.1%[1].

– Dow Jones Industrial Average: 40,358.09 (-.14%).

– S&P 500: 5,555.74 (-.16%).

– Nasdaq Composite: 17,997.35 (-.06%).

– The small caps on the Russell 2000 closed at 2,243.27 (+1.02%).

– The iShares Micro-Cap ETF closed at $128.43,+1.74%.

Earnings Report Highlights

Earnings reports played a significant role in individual stock movements on July 23. UPS took a major hit, plummeting 12.1% after missing earnings estimates, while NXP Semiconductors and Nucor also declined by 7.6% and 1.1% respectively[1]. On the positive side, Spotify (SPOT) surged 12% following its report, with Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) also posting strong gains of 5.6% and 6.9% respectively[1]. The mixed earnings results contributed to the overall hesitant market sentiment, as investors awaited reports from tech giants Alphabet and Tesla, scheduled for after the closing bell[2]. After the bell, Tesla (TSLA) reported Q2 earnings of $.52, failing to beat analyst expectations & free cash flow came in lower than expected at $1.34B. However, revenues came in higher than expected at $25.5B & Gross margins were up to 18%. Also, Alphabet’s report confirmed that revenue grew 14% year-over-year, hitting a whopping $84.7 billion. That’s right, they’re making money faster than a squirrel hoarding nuts before winter! Cloud revenues finally broke the $10 billion quarterly revenue mark and even pocketing $1 billion in operating profit for the first time. Alphabet’s advertising revenue hit a jaw-dropping $64.62 billion, up from $58.14 billion a year before. Sector Movements and Bond Yields

Only three S&P 500 sectors registered gains on July 23: materials (+0.4%), financials (+0.1%), and consumer discretionary (+0.02%). The energy sector experienced the largest decline (-1.6%), followed by utilities (-0.7%) and consumer staples (-0.3%). In the bond market, yields saw a slight decrease, with the 10-year note yield dropping two basis points to 4.24% and the 2-year note yield settling four basis points lower at 4.48%[1]. This sector performance and bond yield movement reflect the market’s cautious sentiment amid ongoing earnings reports and economic uncertainties.

Economic Data and Meme Stocks

June’s existing home sales dropped to 3.89 million, below the expected 4.00 million, reaching levels last seen in late 2023. This decline suggests that high mortgage rates and low inventory are offsetting the usual summer boost in housing activity[1]. Meanwhile, meme stock GameStop (GME) rose 1.1% to close at $25.50.[2].

Magnificent Seven

The market leading mega cap Magnificent Seven closed as follows: Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $183.60, +.14%, Apple (AAPL) closing at $225.01, +.47%, Meta Platforms (META) closing at $488/69, +.26%, Microsoft (MSFT) closing at $444.85, +.43%, NVIDIA (NVDA) closing at $122.59, -.77%, & Tesla’s (TSLA) closed at $246.38, -2.04%. Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) closed at $47.76, +.21%.

VP Watchlist Updates

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals (EPRX, $2.595,+3.39%) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of locally delivered, extended-release products that have the potential to address therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need. The Company strives to provide improved patient benefit and has developed technology designed to deliver targeted, long-lasting activity with fewer side effects. DiffuSphere™, a proprietary, polymer-based micro-sphere technology, is designed to facilitate targeted drug delivery, with extended duration of effect, and offers multiple, highly tuneable pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles. This investigational technology can be engineered for use with multiple active pharmaceutical ingredients and delivery methods.

Note that Eupraxia recently completed a Phase 2b clinical trial (SPRINGBOARD) of EP-104IAR for the treatment of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee. The trial met its primary endpoint and three of the four secondary endpoints. Eupraxia has expanded the EP-104 platform into gastrointestinal disease with the Phase 1b/2a RESOLVE trial for treating EoE. Eupraxia is also developing a pipeline of later- and earlier-stage long-acting formulations. Potential pipeline indications include candidates for other inflammatory joint indications and oncology, each designed to improve on the activity and tolerability of currently approved drugs.

On June 5, Eupraxia announced that results from its Phase 2 study of EP-104IAR for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee will be presented at the upcoming European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (“EULAR”) European Congress of Rheumatology 2024 (the “Meeting”). The EULAR Meeting is being held in Vienna, Austria from June 12-15, 2024.

On May 23, Eupraxia announced that regulators in Australia and Canada have cleared the Company’s request to expand its Phase 1b/2a RESOLVE trial, which is evaluating the safety and efficacy of EP-104GI as a treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis (“EoE”). For further details about Eupraxia, please visit the Company’s website at: www.eupraxiapharma.com.

Shares of Lantern (LTRN), an artificial intelligence (“AI”) company developing targeted and transformative cancer therapies using its proprietary RADR® AI and machine learning (“ML”) platform with multiple clinical stage drug program, closed at $4.76, +3.03%.

On July 10, Lantern announced a significant advancement towards the development of a diagnostic for its drug candidate LP-184. The diagnostic is currently based on qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction) technology and is focused on quantifying the amount of PTGR1 RNA in patient tumor samples to assess the potential for sensitivity to Lantern’s drug candidate LP-184. The company plans to further develop and validate the assay for its use as a potential tool for patient selection in later stage clinical trials across a broad range of solid tumors that have shown sensitivity to LP-184. Panna Sharma, CEO of Lantern Pharma stated, “This milestone represents a significant leap forward in our precision oncology approach and in ensuring that we enrich our future LP-184 clinical trials with the patients we believe will be most likely to benefit. By working to develop a companion diagnostic for LP-184, we’re not just advancing a drug candidate; we’re paving the way for more personalized and effective cancer treatments for patients that have the highest likelihood of benefitting from the therapy. The planned use of biomarkers like PTGR1 in our clinical trials exemplifies our commitment to data-driven, patient-centric drug development.”

Panna Sharma, CEO of Lantern, was interviewed recently on the ‘Today In Nashville’, a program hosted by Carole Sullivan and associated with Nashville’s WSMV 4, an NBC affiliate. Watch it here to learn more.

On June 12, Lantern announced that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) has issued a Certificate of Patent for patent application no. 2021-513267 / registration no. 7489966 directed to Lantern Pharma’s drug candidate LP-284 ((+)N-hydroxy-N-(methylacylfulvene)urea). The Certificate of Patent entitled “Illudin Analogs, Uses Thereof, and Methods for Synthesizing the Same” covers molecule LP-284, including claims covering the new molecular entity. A Certificate of Patent is issued after JPO examinations have confirmed the merits of a patent request. Lantern values the broad protection this latest patent provides. Lantern estimates that LP-284 can have the potential to improve outcomes for 40,000 to 80,000 patients with blood cancers annually, with a global annual market potential of $4 Billion USD.

Shares of Indaptus Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INDP) closed at $2.12, -2.75% and is up +9.91% at $2.33 in the aftermarket. Indaptus is a company with the ability to harness both the body’s innate and adaptive immune responses, believes that they are uniquely positioned to revolutionize the treatment of cancer and certain infectious diseases. Indaptus Therapeutics has evolved from more than a century of immunotherapy advances. The Company’s novel approach is based on the hypothesis that efficient activation of both innate and adaptive immune cells and pathways and associated anti-tumor and anti-viral immune responses will require a multi-targeted package of immune system-activating signals that can be administered safely intravenously (i.v.). Indaptus’ patented technology is composed of single strains of attenuated and killed, non-pathogenic, Gram-negative bacteria producing a multiple Toll-like receptor (TLR), Nucleotide oligomerization domain (Nod)-like receptor (NLR) and Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist Decoy platform. The products are designed to have reduced i.v. toxicity, but largely uncompromised ability to prime or activate many of the cells and pathways of innate and adaptive immunity. Decoy products represent an antigen-agnostic technology that have produced single-agent activity against metastatic pancreatic and orthotopic colorectal carcinomas, single agent eradication of established antigen-expressing breast carcinoma, as well as combination-mediated eradication of established hepatocellular carcinomas and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas in standard pre-clinical models, including syngeneic mouse tumors and human tumor xenografts.

On June 4, Indaptus announced that its Chief Medical Officer, Roger Waltzman, M.D., will present an update on the Company’s lead product candidate, Decoy20, at the 7th Annual Next-Gen Immuno-Oncology Conference in Boston on June 20-21, 2024. Dr. Waltzman will present preliminary results from the Company’s ongoing Phase 1 study of Decoy20, an intravenous treatment using killed bacteria designed to broadly stimulate the immune system, in patients with advanced solid tumors.

On June 3, Indaptus announced updated data from its ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of Decoy20 in patients with solid tumors. The data were featured in a poster presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting on June 1 in Chicago, Illinois.

Shares of ADT Inc. (ADT), a leading provider of monitored security and automation solutions for residential and small business customers in the United States and Canada, closed at $7.82, -1.01% after establishing a new 52-wk high of $7.92 during intraday trading today. On June 17, ADT announced the appointment of Dan Houston and Danielle Tiedt to the Company’s Board of Directors as additional independent directors. In conjunction with their appointments, Houston and Tiedt will both join the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, while Houston will also join the Board’s Compensation Committee. Houston is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Principal Financial Group, a global financial services company with $709 billion of assets under management. He joined Principal in 1984 and has served as chief executive officer since 2015. Houston serves on several boards of non-profit organizations, including the American Council of Life Insurers, Iowa State University Business School Dean’s Advisory Council and Partnership for a Healthier America. As chief marketing officer for Google’s YouTube, Tiedt oversees global marketing strategy, product marketing and brand vision. During her tenure, YouTube has grown to a $40 billion business operating in 76 countries. Prior to joining Google in 2012, Tiedt held various leadership roles in technology product management and marketing at Microsoft. She serves on the board of the 4-H Foundation, America’s largest youth development organization.

Modular Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: MODD, $1.59, +4.61%), is a development-stage, insulin delivery technology company seeking to launch the next generation of user-friendly and affordable insulin pump technology. Using its patented technologies, the company seeks to eliminate the tradeoff between complexity and efficacy, thereby making top quality insulin delivery both affordable and simple to learn. Their mission is to improve access to the highest standard of glycemic control for people with diabetes taking it beyond “superusers” and providing “diabetes care for the rest of us.” Modular Medical was founded by Paul DiPerna, a seasoned medical device professional and microfluidics engineer. Prior to founding Modular Medical, Mr. DiPerna was the founder (in 2005) of Tandem Diabetes and invented and designed its t:slim insulin pump. More information is available at https://modular-medical.com.

On July 15, Modular Medical announced a proof-of-concept study with Gubra A/S (“Gubra”) in a high-fat, diet-induced obese (“DIO”) mouse model to explore the potential future use of the MODD1 pump platform to assist patients who struggle with tolerability, inconsistent efficacy, and cost of long acting GLP-1 therapies. “A recent study published by Blue Health Intelligence using data from a national dataset of private insurers found that about half of all patients prescribed a GLP-1 drug for weight loss discontinued after the first 12 weeks, with approximately 30% discontinuing in the first four weeks,” commented Jeb Besser, Chief Executive Officer of Modular Medical. “These discontinuations appear to be due to a combination of tolerability, cost, and inconsistent efficacy. We suspect that short-acting peptides may mitigate many of these side effects and dosage swings by better modulating dosage, but these therapies have generally been abandoned as “too difficult to use” because they required multiple doses per day to be effective. We see the potential for such dosing regimes to be greatly simplified and even improved by the use of pump technology to provide both a basal dose and boluses to control hunger. Using Gubra’s gold-standard DIO mouse model, MODD will seek to determine whether an existing FDA approved, short-acting peptide delivered from a pump platform can provide a more personalized and more tolerable solution for patients who found long acting GLP-1 drugs too difficult to tolerate, while delivering comparable glycemic control and weight loss, specifically for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.” Learn more here.

On June 3, Modular Medical, Inc. announced that it is set to join the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2024 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective when the U.S. market opens on July 1, 2024. Membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $10.6 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell’s US indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider.

Quote of the Day

“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” – Henry Miller

Citations

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-dip-focus-moves-tech-earnings-2024-07-23/
https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-072324
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/meme-stocks

Economic Reports

On Tuesday, the June Retail Sales 0.0% & June Retail Sales sans-auto .4%, June Import Prices .0%, June Import Prices sans-oil .2%, June Export Prices -.5%, June Export Prices san-agriculture -.6%, May Business Inventories .5%, the July NAHB Housing Market Index came in lower at 42.