The coronavirus fear is now a pandemic, at least in the markets. All major American averages were down over 3% on Friday, after what has been the worst week since the financial crisis more than a decade ago. Currently, the gains for the year for each of these major averages have been wiped out and then some. The Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500, and Nasdaq are sitting with a loss of nearly 15% for this week alone.
As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, China is facing an outbreak of the coronavirus, and this has spread to several countries around the world. Global infections of roughly 84,000 people have been reported, but only about 5,000 of these were outside of mainland China. However, there are concerns that China is underreporting these numbers, and asymptomatic transmission is a troubling issue.
There are currently 44,000 active cases of the coronavirus, and nearly 40,000 closed cases. Of the cases with outcomes, nearly 37,000 of those infected have recovered while there have been over 2,800 reported deaths.
The economic concerns of the coronavirus are mounting, and companies with production in China are likely to see the biggest impact. However, global gross domestic product numbers could see a drop as more companies take precautionary measures rather than risk infection. With a more cautious approach to business, it’s easy to see how the global economy would slow down, especially with China acting as one of the biggest manufacturers.
24/7 Wall St. has tracked some of the stocks that are either defensive in general or that are defying the big drop because they have some aspect of their business that might be immune to daily scares or because they are potential beneficiaries of these moves.
Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) shares were trading up 32% at $15.57 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $3.54 to $17.00. The consensus price target is $14.25.
Altimmune Inc. (NASDAQ: ALT) shares were last seen up about 122% at $3.90, in a 52-week range of $1.51 to $5.94. The consensus price target is $13.00. Altimmune has announced that it has completed the design and synthesis of a single-dose intranasal COVID-19 vaccine and is now advancing it toward animal testing and manufacturing.
NanoViricides Inc. (NYSE: NNVC) stock pushed 8% higher to $11.24 on Friday. The 52-week range is $1.27 to $19.20.
Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) shares were up 34% at $26.80, in a 52-week range of $9.70 to $28.00. The consensus price target is $16.00.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) shares were last seen up 5% at $4.59. The 52-week range is $1.92 to $5.95, and the consensus price target is $9.43.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) shares were down about 6% at $67.91. The 52-week range is $60.89 to $78.88. The consensus price target is $74.50.
Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) shares were trading down 5% at $159.13, in a 52-week range of $144.12 to $174.17. The consensus price target is $155.15.
Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) traded up 3% at $117.72, in a post-IPO range of $59.94 to $121.93. This company is part of the “work from home” economy in a sense, as it allows for constant communications.
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