Chart of the Day – The Big Four of Biotech, $GILD, $AMGN, $BIIB, $CELG

by Enis January 14, 2014 1:15 pm • Commentary

Biotech has been the leader to start 2014, with ICPT the poster boy for the sector after its 280% advance on Thursday (though down more than 30% today).  I wanted to take a quick look at the big 4 of biotech (GILD, AMGN, BIIB, and CELG), with all of them near important resistance.  A clean breakout would be further confirmation for the sector.

None of the big 4 have held a breakout to new highs so far in 2014, but all of them are quite close.  In order of market cap:

GILD is the largest market cap ($115 billion), and has been in a tight range for the past 2 months.  Its all-time high of $76.11 was set on December 9th:

GILD daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg
GILD daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg

AMGN ($89 billion) has been a relative underperformer since April, but is still only a couple percent from its all-time high of $119.70 set on November 4th:

AMGN daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg
AMGN daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg

BIIB ($70 billion) made a minor new all-time high yesterday, but closed back below $300.  Its intraday high yesterday was $302.95:

BIIB daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg
BIIB daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg

CELG ($69 billion) also set a minor new all-time high yesterday, but closed lower as well.  Its high yesterday was $174.66:

CELG daily, Courtesy of Bloomberg
CELG daily, 50 day ma in pink, 200 day ma in yellow, Courtesy of Bloomberg

 

Those are the important levels to watch in the coming days, and could be a barometer for the broader market’s strength as well.