ScoPo’s Powerplays: ‘Prepare for a big jump in July’ as tax-loss selling in healthcare continues
Health & Biotech
7 hours ago |
Eddy Sunarto
Healthcare and life sciences expert Scott Power, who has been a senior analyst with Morgans Financial for 24 years, explains what the movers and shakers have been doing in health and gives his ASX powerplays.
Theme of the week
Healthcare finished the week up 4 per cent, compared to the broader market which rose by 1 per cent.
As we approach the halfway point of the year, tax-loss selling is also at play in the healthcare sector.
The sector has seen selling across some of the smaller names over the past week, ahead of June 30.
“What’s happened is a lot of funds have had a very good year. What they’re doing now is offsetting those gains with some of their underperforming stocks. So we are seeing a bit of tax-loss selling,” Power told
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However Power expects the stocks that are sold now would jump right back in July.
According to him, several names that could play into that scenario include
Volpara (ASX:VHT),
ImpediMed (ASX:IPD), and
Mach 7 (ASX:M7T).
Over the past month, these stocks have dropped by 15%, 7%, and 5% respectively, and are Power’s picks over the next weeks.
“We’re keeping an eye on these stocks, and we’re confident that they will have a big jump in July. These share prices have been flat for the last six months, and have therefore underperformed compared to the rest of the market.”
Stocks that have fallen due to profit-taking include
Actinogen (ASX:ACW), which has dropped by 23 per cent this week after surging
by 70 per cent in the last fortnight on its Alzheimer’s study progress.
Gainers of the week
Telix (ASX:TLX) was the main gainer for the week, rising by over 30 per cent after it announced a meeting with the FDA for its prostate cancer imaging investigational product, Illuccix.
The company said the meeting has set the stage for the concluding phase of the NDA review process, including alignment on the final Illuccix product label.
In big caps,
Resmed (ASX:RMD) has surged by 12 per cent this week after its competitor Philips recalled the majority of its DreamStation devices.
Philips has advised patients to discontinue using its first generation DreamStation devices, as the foams inside the devices could present a possible health risk.
The DreamStation is an airway pressure therapy machine that helps people with obstructive sleep apnea.
Resmed is believed to be in discussions with Philip’s customers following this announcement.
Microcap play
Power says that he is closely watching micro-cap play,
Proteomics (ASX
IQ).
Proteomics is a company that does diagnostic tests for diabetic kidney disease.
The company said it can predict the onset of the disease four years before clinical symptoms appear through a simple blood test, and with 90 per cent accuracy.
The product has already got a European approval while currently waiting one from the FDA, and it has commenced a number of early licensing agreements.
It’s also about to start a collaboration with Janssen to examine the performance of PromakerD in patients.
‘Proteomics has come off the boil a bit, and it’s an example of a stock that had a big run leading into 30 June, and then had some profit taking.”
Proteomics’ share price has fallen by 11 per cent over the past month.
Announcements you might have missed
Immutep (ASX:IMU)
The immune-oncology company has gone on a trading halt for capital raising. The company has announced some clinical data results over the past week and are looking to fund those trials.
“We don’t know how much they’re going to raise, but it’s a good example of the continuing interest to raise money in this space,” Power said.
Avita Medical (ASX:AVH)
The regenerative medicine company has upgraded its Q4 revenue to between $9.5-$9.7 million, based on the strong sales of both RECELL and BARDA. The revised RECELL revenue reflects a 55% to 60% increase over the prior year period.
Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY)
The medtech company has confirmed the latest group to join its ColoSTAT clinical trial is Independent Practitioner Network (IPN) Medical Centres. IPN Medical Centres form part of the primary care division of
Sonic Healthcare (ASX: SHL), and boast Australia’s largest network of medical centres, with more than 2,000 doctors across 160 medical centres nationally.
