Freedom names best and worst small cap performers from last week
Freedom Broker has spotlighted the two stocks in the Russell 2000 that most outperformed and most underperformed last week, November 3-9. The former was Terns Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a bone-marrow cancer therapy, while the latter was Sable Offshore Corp., an oil and gas producer operating off the coast of California.
Best performer: Terns
Shares of biotech company Terns Pharmaceuticals soared almost 121% last week, Freedom Broker noted in its weekly small- and mid-cap recap (seen by Oninvest). The rally followed the publication of data from a phase I clinical trial of its lead candidate TERN-701, designed to treat chronic myeloid leukemia – a rare type of bone-marrow cancer that primarily affects older adults and often progresses asymptomatically. The trial involved patients who had previously received therapy that was ineffective.
According to Freedom, TERN-701 was at least twice as effective as comparable drugs, including asciminib (brand name Scemblix) from Swiss pharma giant Novartis. The analysts called the results outstanding, noting that the market also viewed them as a breakthrough.
Investment banks Mizuho, Barclays, and Truist promptly raised their target prices for Terns shares to $27-32 per share, implying upside potential of 46-73% from the November 7 closing price of $18.47 per share. The upward revision strengthened expectations that TERN-701 could become the new standard-of-care therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia, Freedom concluded.
Worst performer: Sable
Quotes of oil and gas company Sable Offshore Corp., which operates on the California shelf, plunged almost 54% last week amid a combination of negative factors. On November 3, the company announced amended terms of its loan agreement with Exxon Mobil Corp. Under the new conditions, the funding rate will rise from 10% to 15%, and the extension of the loan will depend on raising at least $225 million through an additional share issue – a move that will dilute shareholder equity.
The announcement followed a Hunterbrook investigation reporting that CEO Jim Flores had told a select group of investors that the company would likely need to raise up to $200 million in equity by the end of 2025. This means some investors may have had advance access to information about the company’s financial situation and could have sold shares before the official word, Freedom wrote. The incident has raised concerns about Sable Offshore’s corporate governance and internal controls, adding pressure to the stock price and undermining investor confidence, the analysts conclude.
The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.
