Bionano Genomics (BNGO.Q), a genome analysis company providing tools and services to scientists and clinicians, announced today that it has been added as a member of the US small-cap Russell 2000® Index.
“We are pleased Bionano has been added to the Russell indexes, which means Bionano’s share performance is now included in a leading benchmark for institutional investors. Inclusion in the Russell indexes enhances the visibility of our company as we continue to grow the installed base of Saphyr and potentially build the next great genomics company,” said Erik Holmlin, PhD, CEO of Bionano Genomics.
Who is Bionano Genomics? Why Should I Care?
Bionano is credited for the development of its Saphyr system, a research use only platform for ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific structural variation detection. The Saphyr system is able to reveal structural variants at sensitivities as high as 99%, with false positive rates below 2%. With this in mind, Saphyr could be applied to undiagnosed genetic disorders, hematologic malignancies, and gene discovery to name just a few. Moreover, according to Bionano’s Q1 2021 financial results, Saphyr took off, assisting the Company in achieving a 179% year-over-year revenue increase.
In particular, Bionano’s commercialization strategy, aimed at building scientific momentum by presenting data at key scientific meetings, drove utilization of Saphyr at numerous institutions across the globe. This includes King’s College Hospital in London, the NHS Regional Genetics Laboratory in Belfast City Hospital, and the University Heath Network in Toronto, which has the largest hospital diagnostic lab in Canada. Bionano’s Saphyr system was also adopted by Indalo Bio, an advanced molecular genetics laboratory based in Cape Town, South Africa, indicating that Bionano has been largely successful in expanding its presence globally.
If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, then its worth noting that Bionano’s 52-week range is 43 cents to $15.69. Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2021, the Company was able to achieve a cash position of $362 million compared to a position of $34.4 million as of December 31, 2021. Referring back to Bionano’s latest news, the Company has been added to the Russell 2000 Index, an index widely considered to be the benchmark for smaller US stocks.
In particular, the Russell 2000 Index is one of two sub-indexes included in the Russell 3000 index. The other sub-index is the Russell 1000 Index, which accounts for the 1,000 largest companies. With that being said, the Russell 2000 Index accounts for the remaining two-thirds, with a focus on smaller companies like Bionano. To give you a rough idea of size, the median market cap of a Russell 2000 stock was $922 million as of Jan 31, 2021. Bionano is well above this average, sitting at a market cap of $2.186 billion.
“…we believe this milestone is a reflection of the growing awareness of optical genome mapping (OGM), the significant progress our business is making towards OGM being part of routine use in genome analysis including cytogenomics and another step forward in expanding awareness of Bionano among institutional investors,” continued Mr. Holmlin.
The Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. With this in mind, having been added as a member of the Russell 2000 Index, Bionano now has increased visibility. Overall, Bionano looks promising as a biotechnology investment with a portfolio of popular products including its Saphyr system.
Bionano’s share price opened at $8.03, up from a previous close of $7.52. The Company’s shares are up 4.12% and are currently trading at $7.83 as of 11:49AM ET. This indicates that there has been noticeable change following the news .
