What's Happening in Small-Cap Stocks: Playboy's Breakout, the Success of a Hot Flash Treatment, Plastic Surgery, and GLP-1

Playboy has returned to profitability thanks to licensing agreements and growth in lingerie sales. Biotech company AbCellera reported successful interim results from a trial of a drug for menopausal symptoms. AirSculpt Technologies, a plastic surgery clinic, forecasts revenue growth thanks to the popularity of GLP-1-based anti-obesity drugs. Highlights from the small-cap sector for the week of August 10–14 are featured in the Oninvest digest.

Playboy, a company that made its name as a media empire, reported the results of its new strategy: a focus on licensing and lingerie sales has enabled it to return to profitability. Its stock price rose by more than 15% on the Nasdaq on August 11.

For the second quarter of this year, the company reported a net profit of approximately $200,000, compared with a loss of $7.7 million for the same period in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA doubled to $7 million. Revenue grew 11% year-over-year to $31.2 million.

Playboy attributes this trend to the effectiveness of its new strategy. The key driver of revenue growth in the second quarter was the “consistently strong” performance of the Honey Birdette lingerie brand. Playboy also has a licensing agreement to use its rabbit-logo brand with Thai Nippon Rubber Industry Public, a Thai manufacturer of condoms and lubricants, and with Sunny Cusco, a company that manufactures and sells clothing.

Since the beginning of the year, Playboy’s stock price has fallen by more than 30%. Among Wall Street analysts tracking the company, two recommend buying, and one recommends holding. The average price target is $2.83, which is nearly 89% higher than the closing price on August 14.

The Canadian biotechnology company AbCellera Biologics announced the successful results of interim clinical trials of its drug for treating menopausal symptoms.

Shares of the company, in which Palantir Technologies co-founder Peter Thiel invested early on, soared nearly 35% on the Nasdaq on August 10, reaching a three-year high.

The drug ABCL635 is intended to alleviate menopausal symptoms, the most common of which are hot flashes and night sweats. The publication of interim data from Phase II clinical trials demonstrated that the drug reduced the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms—without causing serious adverse reactions in patients.

AbCellera notes that the drug could significantly improve patients' quality of life: hot flashes affect up to 80% of women and can persist for many years after their last menstrual period.

"We believe that ABCL635 has the potential to become a blockbuster," said AbCellera CEO Carl Hansen during an investor conference call. He was quoted by Bloomberg.

Wall Street is optimistic about the outlook for biotech. All eight analysts who cover AbCellera recommend buying its stock. The average target price is $17.43, which implies upside potential of more than 50% from the August 14 closing price.

AirSculpt Technologies, a company that operates plastic surgery clinics, believes that the popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could bring it more than $100 million in the long term. This was stated by its CEO, Yogi Jashnani. The reason is that patients who lose weight rapidly may need skin tightening and the removal of excess skin.

This represents a significant source of revenue for AirSculpt. Its revenue in 2025 totaled $151.8 million. Yogi Jashnani said that to expand its work with this patient group, the company has already entered into a partnership agreement with the filler manufacturer Tiger Aesthetics.

Following his statement, the company’s shares on the Nasdaq jumped nearly 17%. The stock has two “Hold” ratings from Wall Street analysts and one “Buy” rating. The average target price is $4.50, which implies upside potential of nearly one-third from the August 14 closing price.

Sionna Therapeutics, a biotech company founded in 2019 following a spin-off from pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, announced the failure of its experimental drug SION-719 for cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease.

Following that, its stock price fell by more than 90% on the Nasdaq on August 10.

SION-719 was developed as an adjunct to Trikafta, a drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which is the standard of care for cystic fibrosis. In this disease, mucus, sweat, and digestive juices in the body become very thick, which impairs the functioning of the lungs, bronchi, and intestines. The second, mid-stage, clinical trial showed that the use of SION-719 did not result in a significant reduction in sweat chloride levels—one of the key indicators of treatment efficacy for cystic fibrosis.

Sionna called these results “unexpected” and decided to discontinue further development of SION-719 as an adjunct to Trikafta.

However, this setback is not the end of the road for the company, notes Barron’s, as Sionna has several potential drug candidates in its pipeline. The company’s stock has 10 “hold” ratings from Wall Street analysts and one “buy” rating. The average price target is $21.43, which is more than three times the closing price on August 14.

Marex Group, a brokerage firm that provides institutional investors with access to commodity exchanges and stocks, more than doubled its net profit thanks to market volatility. Its shares soared nearly 19% on August 12, reaching an all-time high.

Marex's revenue in the second quarter rose 39% to $695.8 million compared with the same period in 2025. The figure exceeded Wall Street's consensus estimate ($625.3 million). Net income more than doubled to $155.3 million, which was 50% higher than market expectations.

As a broker and market maker, Marex benefited significantly from market volatility, explains Investor’s Business Daily. As a result, securities trading revenue in the second quarter was 68% higher than in the same period last year.

Wall Street is optimistic: all seven analysts covering Marex recommend buying the brokerage firm’s stock. The average target price for its shares is $84.71, which is 19.2% higher than the August 14 closing price.