#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.

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]

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.

Published October 8, 2020 — 16:01 UTC