Not all biotechs are highflyers in 2020. Despite some pharma companies’ elevated coronavirus driven valuations, some have had to settle for more pedestrian performances.Take for instance biotech Biogen (BIIB). The large cap has had a middling 2020 so far, with shares down by 6% since the turn of the year.Might that be about to change in the second half of the year, following a recent encouraging development?On Wednesday, Biogen disclosed it had submitted a BLA (biologics license application) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its potential Alzheimer treatment, aducanumab.Focus now turns to the FDA’s reaction. The agency has 60 days to approve the filing, following which (if approved), the application will be reviewed. Biogen hopes the drug will be granted priority status due to the disease’s unmet medical need. This means the review could be completed within 6 months instead of the 10 months it normally takes. J.P. Morgan analyst Cory Kasimov is not entirely convinced the treatment will make it through the whole regulatory process. The approval prospects for aducanumab, he notes, are “little better than a coin flip,” and he estimates the possibility of success at 55%. After conducting a poll among 30 US Alzheimer’s physicians, Kasimov argues aducanumab remains a controversial subject among industry professionals.“In short,” said the 5-star analyst, ”The results suggest that the majority of docs don’t believe that aducanumab should be approved… but plan to prescribe the drug to a substantial number of early Alzheimer’s patients if it reaches the market. With safety not being a major sticking point for most of these respondents, we suspect the regulatory debate is likely to come down to whether perceived tolerability + the unmet need win out over a questionable efficacy data + trial conduct/analysis.”All in all, Kasimov reiterated a Hold rating on BIIB shares along with a $293 price target, which implies a modest 5% upside. (To watch Kasimov’s track record, click here)Overall, based on Biogen’s Hold consensus rating, the rest of the Street agrees. The breakdown consists of 8 Buys, 13 Holds and 4 Sells, and is accompanied by a $312.16 price target. There’s upside of 11%, should the figure be met over the following months. (See Biogen stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for healthcare stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

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Barbados has a proposition for those working from home that is hard to pass up.

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American Hotel & Lodging Association CEO Chip Rogers joins Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman to discuss the state of the hotel industry amid the coronavirus.

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Mesoblast has developed a cellular therapy that may significantly reduce deaths among the most severely sick COVID-19 patients. CEO Dr. Fred Grossman joins Yahoo Finance’s On the Move to discuss what this development could mean in the fight against the virus.

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Xeris Pharmaceuticals (XERS) spiked 12% in Friday’s after-hours trading after a filing disclosed that Soros Fund Management, LLC holds a 5.3% stake in the company with ~2.5M common shares.Soros Fund Management was founded in 1969 by 89-year old hedge fund tycoon and billionaire George Soros.Xeris’s lead product, Gvoke, is a ready-to-use glucagon product for diabetic patients experiencing severe hypoglycemia, which has been approved as a prefilled syringe (PFS) and autoinjector (HypoPen).The HypoPen was launched on July 1, making it the first ready-to-use glucagon in a premixed autoinjector, with no visible needle.“We are excited to announce that Gvoke HypoPen is now available. The simplicity and reliability of Gvoke HypoPen has the potential to change people’s ability to confidently respond to a severe hypoglycemic event in a timely manner,” commented CEO Paul R. Edick on the launch.RBC Capital’s Randall Stanicky has a buy rating on Xeris and $15 price target, writing that Gvoke addresses an important unmet need in a large patient population where current standards of care have significant limitations that have impeded uptake.Plus he cites the company’s broad pipeline that targets several diseases with limited or no viable treatment options. The pipeline leverages Xeris’ two formulation technology platforms to create non-aqueous formulations of existing drugs.“Formulation technology platforms can be otherwise leveraged across several therapeutic areas and Xeris is currently working with other companies to assess the feasibility of applying its platform to other products” the analyst adds.Overall, the stock has a Strong Buy Street consensus, with 4 recent buy ratings. Meanwhile the average analyst price target stands at $12.50 (373% upside potential). (See XERS stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 42% Pre-Market On $1.6B U.S. Funding For Covid-19 Candidate Gilead Reveals Covid-19 Treatment Remdesivir Reduces Mortality Risk Moderna Inks Deal With Rovi To Supply Potential Covid-19 Vaccine Outside US More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Australia Provisionally Approves Gilead’s Covid-19 Treatment * Gilead Reveals Covid-19 Treatment Remdesivir Reduces Mortality Risk * Square Snaps Up Stitch Labs, As Analyst Finally Upgrades Stock * Alibaba’s CEO Sets Out Ambitious Goals; Sees 2B Customers By 2036

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Ford says staffing restrictions at an engine plant in Mexico are ‘not sustainable’, and the U.S. ambassador to Mexico says the company may have to start shutting down U-S plants if they can’t get enough engines. Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi, Alexis Christoforous, and Rick Newman discuss.

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With the Federal Reserve backstopping financial assets, it is no surprise that stocks have rallied furiously off the March 23rd bottom.

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Stocks churned higher for most of Friday's session, setting the stage for the start of earnings season next week. With that in mind, let's look at a few top stock trades for Monday. Top Stock Trades for Monday No. 1: Fastly (FSLY) Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comFastly (NYSE:FSLY) stock has been absolutely incredible, rallying from $10.63 at the March low to more than $100 this week. On the way up, we outlined a couple of key levels, including $75 and $84. These are the 261.8% and the three-times range extensions from the prior range. I also flagged the 361.8% level and the $100 mark as a potential upside target. InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsAfter briefly exceeding these marks, however, shares seem to be cooling off a bit.Now we need to see where support comes into play. Start with the 10-day moving average near $88. Below that puts the 20-day moving average in play, followed by the extensions we highlighted in the chart at $84 and $75. * The 7 Best Stocks to Invest in Right Now Above $100, though, and the $102.95 high is in play. Top Stock Trades for Monday No. 2: Boeing (BA) Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comBoeing (NYSE:BA) made a nice reversal higher on Friday, as it continues to hold the $168 to $170 area as support. The problem is, however, that downtrend resistance (blue line) and the 20-day moving average continue to squeeze the stock lower. This has the look of a descending triangle, a bearish technical signal. That said, watch $168. Below this mark puts the 50-day moving average in play. If that fails, it could put $150 in play, which is the 23.6% retracement. For bulls to gain any sort of meaningful momentum, the stock must close over the 20-day moving average currently near $184. Top Stock Trades for Monday No. 3: JPMorgan (JPM) Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comJPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and other bank stocks are making a powerful move higher on Friday and ahead earnings next week. The company will report on Tuesday, along with Citigroup (NYSE:C). The 23.6% retracement held as solid support for the last few weeks. So with JPMorgan's rally, the stock is reclaiming the 20-day and 50-day moving averages, as well as clearing downtrend resistance. Now bulls need to see if shares can clear the 38.2% retracement and reclaim $100. Above that puts $110 to $112 in play, along with the 200-day moving average. * 7 Earnings Reports to Watch Next Week Below uptrend support, though, and JPMorgan could see more downside. Top Stock Trades for Monday No. 4: Citigroup (C) Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comLike JPMorgan, Citigroup is prepping for earnings. The stock did a great job holding $50 support and is bouncing off the 50-day moving average. It's also reclaiming downtrend resistance and the 20-day moving average. From here, I want to see shares clear the 50% retracement at $56.68, putting $60 to $62 in play. There it will find the 61.8% retracement and 200-day moving average. Below this month's low at $49.03, however, and Citigroup could take a tumble. In that event, it put the 23.6% retracement in play at $43.47.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG * America's 1 Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company * Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets The post 4 Top Stock Trades for Monday: FSLY, BA, JPM, C appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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Chris Kerr, Gathered Foods CEO & Co-Founder, joins The Final Round to discuss release of their new line frozen plant-based seafood and trends emerging in the plant-based protein market.

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Gilead Sciences (GILD) has announced encouraging additional data on remdesivir, the company’s investigational antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19.The data includes a comparative analysis of the Phase 3 SIMPLE-Severe trial and a real-world retrospective cohort of patients with severe COVID-19.“In this analysis, remdesivir was associated with an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62% reduction in the risk of mortality compared with standard of care – an important finding that requires confirmation in prospective clinical trials” the company stated.Separate subgroup analyses from the Phase 3 SIMPLE-Severe trial, including an evaluation of the safety and efficacy of remdesivir across different racial and ethnic patient subgroups in the US, found that traditionally marginalized racial or ethnic groups treated with remdesivir experienced similar clinical outcomes as the overall patient population in the study.Gilead also showed additional data on the company’s compassionate use program, which demonstrated that 83% of pediatric patients (n=77) and 92% of pregnant and postpartum women (n=86) with a broad spectrum of disease severity recovered by Day 28. No new safety signals were identified with remdesivir across these populations.To further the understanding of these results in individual patient cases, Gilead has initiated a global, open-label Phase 2/3 trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of remdesivir in pediatric patients from birth to less than 18 years of age. Gilead is also collaborating on a study for pregnant women.“We are working to broaden our understanding of the full utility of remdesivir. To address the urgency of the continuing pandemic, we are sharing data with the research community as quickly as possible with the goal of providing transparent and timely updates on new developments with remdesivir,” said Merdad Parsey, CMO of Gilead.“These data presented at the Virtual COVID-19 Conference shed additional light on the use of remdesivir in specific patient populations, including those that may be susceptible to higher rates of COVID-19 infection, as well as others that are particularly vulnerable, including children and pregnant and postpartum women” he added.Due to the current public health emergency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.Five-star analyst Jim Birchenough at Wells Fargo recently reiterated a Hold rating on Gilead saying that he remains skeptical on the longer-term commercial opportunity in view of emerging competition and potential vaccine progress. Indeed, the Street is cautiously optimistic on the stock with a Moderate Buy  consensus based on 10 Buy ratings, 12 Holds and 3 Sells.Shares in Gilead rose 2% to $76.32 at the close of trading on July 10 taking the year-to-date advance to about 18%. The $80 average price target implies 5% upside potential in the shares in the coming 12 months. (See Gilead stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 42% Pre-Market On $1.6B U.S. Funding For Covid-19 Candidate Gilead’s Covid-19 Remdesivir Therapy Gets Conditional European Nod Moderna Inks Deal With Rovi To Supply Potential Covid-19 Vaccine Outside US More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Square Snaps Up Stitch Labs, As Analyst Finally Upgrades Stock * Alibaba’s CEO Sets Out Ambitious Goals; Sees 2B Customers By 2036 * Has Apple Surged Too Far, Too Fast? Analyst Weighs In * Aurora Cannabis (ACB): Transformation on Track

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