This article was published on October 8, 2020

CRISPR’s Nobel Prize sent gene-editing stocks into overdrive

It's been a great month for CRISPR stocks


CRISPR’s Nobel Prize sent gene-editing stocks into overdrive

Biotech stocks continued to surge on Wednesday after two scientists responsible for gene-editing tool CRISPR received this year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

CRISPR-powered stocks Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Editas Medicine (EDIT), and Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) have now jumped 13%, 11%, and 6% respectively.

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), co-founded by one of the Nobel winners Emmanuelle Charpentier, is also up more than 11% since Wednesday morning.

Collectively, these four CRISPR stocks are now worth nearly $12.2 billion  up from $6.5 billion in February with nearly $430 million added to their market values overnight.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Now valued beyond $7.1 billion, CRSP is by far the biggest CRISPR-centric company on the market. And it’s the best performing of the four above, having returned 65% so far. Tennessee-headquartered NTLA is second with 63%.

Wall Street rates CRISPR-powered stocks

CRISPR offers a relatively cheap and relatively method of editing practically any kind of DNA (animal or otherwise).

As one might expect, it’s already triggered a myriad of moral, ethical, and legal troubles for scientists, but researchers say the tool could lead to cures for a wide array of genetic diseases.

[Read: Esports and gaming stocks are returning more profit than Bitcoin]

CRISPR, stocks
For what it’s worth, Bank of America (BoA) finds the hype justified, at least in the short-term. BoA analysts reportedly issued their first rating to CRSP earlier this week: “Buy” with a price target of $110 (current price $96).

Goldman Sachs also rated NTLA for the first time last month when it labelled it a “Buy” and set its price target to $33 (current price $23), according to finance portal Finviz.

None of this is investment advice. Don’t pretend it is, because it’s not. Always do your own research.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with