Yahoo Finance Imagine Owning Homology Medicines (NASDAQ:FIXX) And Wondering If The 19% Share Price Slide Is Justified
It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. For example, the Homology Medicines, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIXX) share price is down 19% in the last year. That's disappointing when you consider the market returned 2.6%. Homology Medicines may have better days ahead, of course; we've only looked at a one year period. On top of that, the share price is down 11% in the last week.
View our latest analysis for Homology Medicines
We don't think Homology Medicines's revenue of US$1,822,000 is enough to establish significant demand. We can't help wondering why it's publicly listed so early in its journey. Are venture capitalists not interested? So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. For example, they may be hoping that Homology Medicines comes up with a great new product, before it runs out of money.
Companies that lack both meaningful revenue and profits are usually considered high risk. You should be aware that there is always a chance that this sort of company will need to issue more shares to raise money to continue pursuing its business plan. While some such companies go on to make revenue, profits, and generate value, others get hyped up by hopeful naifs before eventually going bankrupt.
Homology Medicines had cash in excess of all liabilities of US$239m when it last reported (June 2019). While that's nothing to panic about, there is some possibility the company will raise more capital, especially if profits are not imminent. We'd venture that shareholders are concerned about the need for more capital, because the share price has dropped 19% in the last year . You can see in the image below, how Homology Medicines's cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values). The image below shows how Homology Medicines's balance sheet has changed over time; if you want to see the precise values, simply click on the image.
It can be extremely risky to invest in a company that doesn't even have revenue. There's no way to know its value easily. Given that situation, would you be concerned if it turned out insiders were relentlessly selling stock? It would bother me, that's for sure. It only takes a moment for you to check whether we have identified any insider sales recently.
A Different Perspective
While Homology Medicines shareholders are down 19% for the year, the market itself is up 2.6%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. With the stock down 4.8% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. You might want to assess this data-rich visualization of its earnings, revenue and cash flow.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
