Healthcare/Life Sciences

How China’s Chokehold on Drugs, Chips and More Threatens the U.S.

BEIJING—China has demonstrated it can weaponize its control over global supply chains by constricting the flow of critical rare-earth minerals. President Trump went to the negotiating table when the lack of Chinese materials threatened American production, and he reached a truce last week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that both sides say will ease the flow of rare earths.

But Beijing’s tools go beyond these critical minerals. Three other industries where China has a chokehold—lithium-ion batteries, mature chips and pharmaceutical ingredients—give an idea of what the U.S. would need to do to free itself fully from vulnerability.

Yoko Kubota

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November 4, 2025

Trump Says Xi Will Help Fight Fentanyl. Will China Follow Through?

For years, the U.S. and China have been locked in a pattern on the deadly issue of fentanyl. The White House pressures Beijing to stop Chinese companies from exporting chemicals used to make the drug to Mexico. Beijing takes incremental steps in exchange for Washington dialing down economic pressure—only for China to drag its feet when relations deteriorate.

President Trump, after a summit on Thursday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said tariffs he had imposed on China over its role in the fentanyl trade would be lowered to 10% from 20% because of Beijing’s “very strong action” in cracking down and Xi’s commitment to do more.

Brian Spegele

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November 3, 2025

The Long Road to a U.S.-China Trade Pact

In March, Sen. Steve Daines traveled to Beijing with a group of American chief executives in hopes of calming a tense trade relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

Weeks earlier, President Trump had added an additional 20% in tariffs on China over what he said was its role in the fentanyl trade. The Montana senator and close Trump ally, who lived in China and Hong Kong for six years in the 1990s as an executive for Procter & Gamble, saw an opening to smooth things over.

Gavin Bade

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October 30, 2025

Trump Turns Up Heat on Latin America

President Trump’s vow to intervene against drug smugglers in Colombia widened a U.S. counternarcotics campaign in Latin America that began with military strikes on oceangoing boats but is increasingly focused on threatening governments in the region.

His broadside against Colombia came in a social-media post Sunday morning that branded its president, Gustavo Petro, an “illegal drug leader,” vowing to halt U.S. aid to Bogotá, and to take unilateral action unless Petro closed “these killing fields immediately.”

[ad_2] Vera Bergengruen
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October 19, 2025

Trump Says U.S. Is Cutting Aid to Colombia Over Drugs

President Trump said the U.S. would stop aid payments to Colombia, for decades a close U.S. ally, because of the country’s drug production.

Trump, in a social-media post Sunday, escalated tensions with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling him “an illegal drug leader.” He said Petro was encouraging drug production and the U.S. wouldn’t give any more payments or subsidies to the country, long the U.S.’s closest ally in the war on drugs.

Alyssa Lukpat

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October 19, 2025

Dayforce, Scholar Rock, and More Stocks See Action From Activist Investors

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October 17, 2025

GSK PLC 4Q Pre-items, Pretax Pft GBP1.56B

Corrections & Amplifications

This headline was corrected at 0731 GMT to reflect GSK PLC 4Q Pre-Items, Pre-Tax Pft GBP1.56B, not GBP8.11B

Corrections & Amplifications

This headline was corrected at 0729 GMT to reflect GSK PLC 4Q Adj EPS 28.9p, not Adj EPS GBP1.551

By Joe Hoppe

GSK said its sales rose, driven by growth in its best-selling shingles vaccine Shingrix and the launch of RSV vaccine Arexvy earlier last year, and raised its guidance for 2024.

The British pharmaceutical major posted sales of 8.05 billion pounds ($10.22 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2023, up from GBP7.33 billion the year prior and beating a Visible Alpha consensus of GBP7.61 billion.

Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com

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January 30, 2024

Roche's Cancer Injection Tecentriq SC Gets European Commission Approval

By Andrea Figueras

Roche said that the European Commission approved Tecentriq SC, a cancer immunotherapy subcutaneous injection for multiple cancer types.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that it has been granted marketing authorisation for Tecentriq SC, which reduces treatment time by approximately 80% compared with standard IV infusion.

The subcutaneous injections take between four and eight minutes, while until now the treatment had been given directly into patients’ veins by IV infusion, which takes approximately 30-60 minutes.

Last year, more than 38,000 people in the EU received Tecentriq to treat different types of lung, liver, bladder and breast cancer, Roche said.

The company is also working closely with several providers in Europe to include Tecentriq SC in cancer homecare initiatives where possible.

The injections can also be administered by a healthcare professional outside of the hospital, in a community care setting or at a patient’s home, depending on national regulations and health systems.

Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com

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January 15, 2024

Medical Properties Trust Stock Is Crashing

Shares of Medical Properties Trust plummeted after the real estate investment trust said it is ramping up efforts to recover uncollected rent and outstanding loans from its largest tenant.

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January 5, 2024

The Russell 2000 Index has soared, but you might be better off looking elsewhere for quality small-cap stocks

The Russell 2000 Index soared 12% in December, which might reflect investors’ exuberance about the state of the U.S. economy — it appears the Federal Reserve has won its battle against inflation.

But if you are looking to broaden your exposure to the stock market beyond the large-cap S&P 500
SPX,
buying shares of a fund that tracks the Russell 2000 Index
RUT
might not be the best way to do it. This is because the Russell 2000 isn’t selective — it is made up of the smallest 2,000 companies by market capitalization in the Russell 3000 Index
RUA,
which itself is designed to capture about 98% of the U.S. public equity market.

A better choice might be the S&P Small Cap 600 Index
SML
because S&P Global requires companies to show four consecutive quarters of profitability to be initially included in the index, among other criteria.

Below is a screen of analysts’ favorite stocks among the S&P Small Cap 600, along with another for the Russell 2000.

Watch for a “head fake”

Much of the small-cap buying in December might have resulted from covering of short positions by hedge-fund managers. This idea is backed by the timing of trading activity immediately following the Federal Open Market Committee’s announcement on Dec. 13 that it wouldn’t change its interest-rate policy, according to MacroTourist blogger Kevin Muir. The Fed’s economic projections released the same day also indicate three cuts to the federal-funds rate in 2024.

Heading into the end of the year, a fund manager who had shorted small-caps, and then was surprised by the Fed’s interest-rate projections, might have scrambled to buy stocks it had shorted to close-out the positions and hopefully lock in gains, or limit losses.

That buying activity and resulting pop in small-cap prices could set up a typical “head fake” for investors as the new year begins, according to Muir.

The long-term case for quality

Looking at data for companies’ most recently reported fiscal quarters, 58% of the Russell 2000 reported positive earnings per share, according to data provided by FactSet. In other words, hundreds of these companies were losing money. These might include promising companies facing “binary events,” such as make-or-break drug trials in the biotechnology industry.

In comparison, 78% of companies among the S&P Small Cap 600 were profitable, and 93% of the S&P 500 were in the black.

Here are long-term performance figures for exchange-traded funds that track all three indexes:

ETF	Ticker	2023	3 years	5 years	10 years	15 years	20 years
iShares Russell 2000 ETF	IWM	17%	7%	61%	99%	428%	365%
iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF	IJR	16%	25%	69%	129%	540%	515%
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	SPY	26%	34%	108%	210%	629%	527%
Source: FactSet

An approach tracking the S&P Small Cap 600 has outperformed the Russell 2000 for all periods, with margins widening as you go further back.

Brett Arends: You own the wrong small-cap fund. How to get into a better one.

Looking ahead for quality… or not

For the first screen, we began with the S&P Small Cap 600 and narrowed the list to 385 companies covered by at least five analysts polled by FactSet. Then we cut the list to 92 companies with “buy” or equivalent ratings among at least 75% of the covering analysts.

Here are the 20 remaining stocks among the S&P Small Cap 600 with the highest 12-month upside potential indicated by analysts’ consensus price targets:

Company	Ticker	Share “buy” ratings	Dec. 29 price	Consensus price target	Implied 12-month upside potential
Vir Biotechnology Inc.	VIR, +4.47%	88%	$10.06	$32.00	218%
Arcus Biosciences Inc.	RCUS, +3.04%	82%	$19.10	$41.00	115%
Xencor Inc.	XNCR, +6.03%	92%	$21.23	$39.83	88%
Dynavax Technologies Corp.	DVAX, +2.86%	100%	$13.98	$24.80	77%
ModivCare Inc.	MODV, +0.95%	100%	$43.99	$75.50	72%
Xperi Inc	XPER, +1.81%	80%	$11.02	$18.20	65%
Thryv Holdings Inc.	THRY,	100%	$20.35	$32.75	61%
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.	LGND, +1.25%	100%	$71.42	$114.80	61%
Green Plains Inc.	GPRE, -1.67%	80%	$25.22	$40.30	60%
Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.	PTEN, +0.28%	75%	$10.80	$17.00	57%
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. Class A	IRWD, +8.48%	83%	$11.44	$17.83	56%
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc.	CPRX, +1.78%	100%	$16.81	$26.20	56%
Payoneer Global Inc.	PAYO, -3.45%	100%	$5.21	$8.00	54%
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc.	HLX, -2.63%	83%	$10.28	$15.00	46%
Arlo Technologies Inc.	ARLO, -3.05%	100%	$9.52	$13.80	45%
Pacira Biosciences Inc.	PCRX, -5.16%	100%	$33.74	$48.40	43%
Privia Health Group Inc.	PRVA, +2.95%	100%	$23.03	$32.53	41%
Semtech Corp.	SMTC, -1.23%	92%	$21.91	$30.90	41%
Talos Energy Inc.	TALO, +1.19%	78%	$14.23	$20.00	41%
Digi International Inc.	DGII, -1.21%	100%	$26.00	$36.14	39%
Source: FactSet

Any stock screen should only be considered a starting point. You should do your own research to form your own opinion before making any investment. one way to begin is by clicking on the tickers for more about each company.

Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

Moving on to the Russell 2000, when we narrowed this group to stocks covered by at least five analysts polled by FactSet, we were left with 936 companies. Among these, 355 have “buy” or equivalent ratings among at least 75% of the covering analysts.

Among those 355 stocks in the Russell 2000, these 20 have the highest implied upside over the next year, based on consensus price targets:

Company	Ticker	Share “buy” ratings	Dec. 29 price	Consensus price target	Implied 12-month upside potential
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc.	KPTI, +4.18%	75%	$0.87	$6.00	594%
Rallybio Corp.	RLYB, +0.42%	100%	$2.39	$16.50	590%
Vor Biopharma Inc.	VOR, -0.89%	100%	$2.25	$15.44	586%
Tenaya Therapeutics Inc.	TNYA, -0.62%	100%	$3.24	$19.14	491%
Compass Therapeutics Inc.	CMPX, -5.13%	86%	$1.56	$9.17	488%
Vigil Neuroscience Inc.	VIGL, +2.66%	88%	$3.38	$18.75	455%
Trevi Therapeutics Inc.	TRVI, -2.99%	100%	$1.34	$7.33	447%
Inozyme Pharma Inc.	INZY, +1.64%	100%	$4.26	$21.00	393%
Gritstone bio Inc.	GRTS, +6.86%	100%	$2.04	$10.00	390%
Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.	ATNM, +4.72%	83%	$5.08	$23.36	360%
Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc.	LCTX,	86%	$1.09	$4.83	343%
Century Therapeutics Inc.	IPSC, +9.64%	86%	$3.32	$14.67	342%
Acrivon Therapeutics Inc.	ACRV, +1.83%	100%	$4.92	$21.13	329%
Avidity Biosciences Inc.	RNA, +1.22%	100%	$9.05	$37.50	314%
Longboard Pharmaceuticals Inc.	LBPH, +316.25%	100%	$6.03	$24.17	301%
Omega Therapeutics Inc.	OMGA, -1.33%	100%	$3.01	$12.00	299%
Allogene Therapeutics Inc.	ALLO, +12.77%	82%	$3.21	$12.79	298%
X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc.	XFOR, +5.21%	86%	$0.84	$3.26	289%
Caribou Biosciences Inc.	CRBU, -2.79%	89%	$5.73	$22.25	288%
Stoke Therapeutics Inc.	STOK, +11.41%	78%	$5.26	$19.33	268%
Source: FactSet

That’s right — this Russell 2000 list is all biotech. And in case you are wondering if any companies are on both lists, the answer is no.

Don’t miss: 11 dividend stocks with high yields expected to be well supported in 2024 per strict criteria

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January 2, 2024

These 20 stocks soared the most in 2023

(Updated with Friday’s closing prices.)

The 2023 rally for stocks in the U.S. accelerated as more investors bought the idea that the Federal Reserve succeeded in its effort to bring inflation to heel.

The S&P 500
SPX
ended Friday with a 24.2% gain for 2023, following a 19.4% decline in 2022. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends). Among the 500 stocks, 65% were up for 2023. Below is a list of the year’s 20 best performers in the benchmark index.

This article focuses on large-cap stocks. MarketWatch Editor in Chief Mark DeCambre took a broader look at all U.S. stocks of companies with market capitalizations of at least $1 billion, to list 10 with gains ranging from 412% to 1,924%.

The Fed began raising short-term interest rates and pushing long-term rates higher in March 2022 by allowing its bond portfolio to run off. That explains the poor performance for stocks in 2022, as bonds and even bank accounts because more attractive to investors.

The central bank hasn’t raised the federal-funds rate since moving it to the current target range of 5.25% to 5.50% in July, and its economic projections point to three rate cuts in 2024.

Investors are anticipating the return to a low-rate environment by scooping up 10-year U.S. Treasury notes
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y,
whose yield ended the year at 3.88%, down from 4.84% on Oct. 27 — the day of the S&P 500’s low for the second half of 2023.

Read: Treasury yields end mostly higher but little changed on year after wild 2023

Before looking at the list of best-performing stocks of 2023, here’s a summary of how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 performed, with the full index and three more broad indexes at the bottom:

Sector or index	2023 price change	2022 price change	Price change since end of 2021	Forward P/E	Forward P/E at end of 2022	Forward P/E at end of 2023
Information Technology	56.4%	-28.9%	11.5%	26.7	20.0	28.2
Communication Services	54.4%	-40.4%	-7.6%	17.4	14.3	21.0
Consumer Discretionary	41.0%	-37.6%	-11.4%	26.2	21.7	34.7
Industrials	16.0%	-7.1%	8.0%	20.0	18.7	22.0
Materials	10.2%	-14.1%	-4.9%	19.5	15.8	16.6
Financials	9.9%	-12.4%	-3.4%	14.6	13.0	16.3
Real Estate	8.3%	-28.4%	-21.6%	18.3	16.9	24.7
Healthcare	0.3%	-3.6%	-3.3%	18.2	17.7	17.3
Consumer Staples	-2.2%	-3.2%	-5.4%	19.3	20.6	21.4
Energy	-4.8%	59.0%	51.8%	10.9	9.8	11.1
Utilities	-10.2%	-1.4%	-11.4%	15.9	18.7	20.4

S&P 500 SPX	24.2%	-19.4%	0.4%	19.7	16.8	21.6
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA	13.7%	-8.8%	3.8%	17.6	16.6	18.9
Nasdaq Composite COMP	43.4%	-33.1%	-3.5%	26.9	22.6	32.0
Nasdaq-100 NDX	53.8%	-33.0%	3.5%	26.3	20.9	30.3
Source: FactSet

A look at 2023 price action really needs to encompass what took place in 2022 for context. The broad indexes haven’t moved much from their levels at the end of 2022 (again, excluding dividends). We have included current forward price-to-earnings ratios along with those at the end of 2021 and 2022. These valuations have declined a bit, which may provide some comfort for investors wondering how likely it is for stocks to continue to rally in 2024.

Biggest price increases among the S&P 500

Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 whose prices rose the most in 2023:

Company	Ticker	2023 price change	2022 price change	Price change since end of 2021	Forward P/E	Forward P/E at end of 2022	Forward P/E at end of 2021
Nvidia Corp.	NVDA,	239%	-50%	68%	24.9	34.4	58.0
Meta Platforms Inc. Class A	META, -1.22%	194%	-64%	5%	20.2	14.7	23.5
Royal Caribbean Group	RCL, -0.37%	162%	-36%	68%	14.3	14.9	232.4
Builders FirstSource Inc.	BLDR, -1.02%	157%	-24%	95%	14.2	10.7	13.3
Uber Technologies Inc.	UBER, -2.49%	149%	-41%	47%	56.9	N/A	N/A
Carnival Corp.	CCL, -0.70%	130%	-60%	-8%	18.7	41.3	N/A
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.	AMD, -0.91%	128%	-55%	2%	39.7	17.7	43.1
PulteGroup Inc.	PHM, -0.26%	127%	-20%	81%	9.1	6.3	6.2
Palo Alto Networks Inc.	PANW, -0.24%	111%	-25%	59%	50.2	38.0	70.1
Tesla Inc.	TSLA, -1.86%	102%	-65%	-29%	66.2	22.3	120.3
Broadcom Inc.	AVGO, -0.55%	100%	-16%	68%	23.2	13.6	19.8
Salesforce Inc.	CRM, -0.92%	98%	-48%	4%	28.0	23.8	53.5
Fair Isaac Corp.	FICO, -0.46%	94%	38%	168%	47.1	29.3	28.7
Arista Networks Inc.	ANET, -0.62%	94%	-16%	64%	32.7	22.3	41.4
Intel Corp.	INTC, -0.28%	90%	-49%	-2%	26.6	14.6	13.9
Jabil Inc.	JBL, -0.45%	87%	-3%	81%	13.5	7.9	10.3
Lam Research Corp.	LRCX, -0.81%	86%	-42%	9%	25.2	13.5	20.2
ServiceNow Inc.	NOW, +0.57%	82%	-40%	9%	56.0	42.6	90.1
Amazon.com Inc.	AMZN, -0.94%	81%	-50%	-9%	42.0	46.7	64.9
Monolithic Power Systems Inc.	MPWR, -0.23%	78%	-28%	28%	49.1	27.3	57.9
Source: FactSet

Click on the tickers for more about each company.

Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

Don’t miss: Nvidia tops list of Wall Street’s 20 favorite stocks for 2024

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December 30, 2023

Intel, Tesla, Apple, Iovance, NetEase, Coherus BioSciences, and More Stock Market Movers

Updated Dec 27, 2023, 7:34 am EST / Original Dec 27, 2023, 4:26 am EST

Stock futures traded slightly lower Wednesday after the S&P 500 finished higher Tuesday and just 0.45% below its record close of 4,796.56 hit Jan. 3, 2022. The broad market index has risen 24% this year and has gained 4.5% this month as traders bet the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates as soon as March.

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December 27, 2023

Bristol Myers to Acquire RayzeBio in Deal Valued at $4.1 Billion

Bristol Myers Squibb will acquire radiopharmaceutical therapeutics company RayzeBio for $62.50 a share in cash.

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December 26, 2023

Bluebird Bio Stock Is in Free Fall

Two weeks ago, bluebird bio secured Food and Drug Administration approval for its gene therapy for sickle cell disease, a significant milestone for the roughly 100,000 people in the U.S. who suffer from the condition.

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December 20, 2023

Alphabet, Heico, Bluebird Bio, Plug Power, UBS, FedEx, and More Stock Market Movers

Dec 19, 2023, 4:31 am EST

Stock futures traded flat Tuesday, a day after the S&P 500 finished up 0.5% and moved closer to its all-time. The broad market index stands just 1.2% below its record of 4,796.56 reached in early January 2022.

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December 19, 2023

SmileDirectClub winds down operations — but customers are told to keep paying

SmileDirectClub Inc. said late Friday it was winding down operations, effective immediately, seeming to cast its millions of customers adrift — except when it comes to their bills.

SmileDirectClub
SDCCQ,
-45.32%
said in a statement that its aligner treatment is not available to new customers. For existing customers, the company said, “we apologize for the inconvenience, but customer care support is no longer available” through its telehealth program, including periodic check-ins.

The company did not immediately return a request for comment.

People on the company’s SmilePay plan will need to make all payments until paid in full, the company said. SmileDirect also ended its lifetime guarantee.

For those seeking refunds, the company said that “there will be more information to come once the bankruptcy process determines next steps and additional measures customers can take.”

The company in late September filed for bankruptcy protection, saying it was seeking to find investors for a “comprehensive recapitalization.” In January, it laid off workers and ended a few international operations in a bid to become profitable.

The company has long attracted criticism for its teledentistry model, which it has said aims to disrupt the orthodontics industry. There were allegations a few years ago that it had harmed customers by breaking teeth and causing nerve damage, which the company denied.

Setbacks also include a scathing report from a short seller; regulatory action in California, Alabama and Georgia; and opposition to the company’s business practices from medical organizations including the American Dental Association and the American Association of Orthodontists.

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December 8, 2023

Roche's Inavolisib Breast Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Late-Stage Study

By Mauro Orru

Roche Holding said its investigational treatment, inavolisib, showed promise in a late-stage study to treat patients with breast cancer.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the phase 3 study met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, showing that inavolisib, in combination with palbociclib and fulvestrant, delivered a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement compared to palbociclib and fulvestrant alone.

While Roche acknowledged that overall survival data were immature at this stage, it said it had observed a clear positive trend. The inavolisib combination was well tolerated.

The group said inavolisib is an investigational, oral targeted treatment with potential to provide durable disease control.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

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December 4, 2023

Bayer CEO Says Breakup Wouldn’t Fix All of the Company’s Ills

BERLIN—Bayer Chief Executive Bill Anderson said the company would bounce back quickly from a recent spate of bad news, and warned that a breakup of the pharmaceutical and agricultural company was no universal cure for its ailments.

A stream of negative news has rekindled calls from investors for Bayer to unlock value by spinning off its units into separate businesses. But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Anderson said the company couldn’t be distracted from the tough restructuring to fix the businesses.

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November 25, 2023

Walmart, Nvidia, Novo Nordisk, Vista Outdoor, GM, and More Stock Market Movers

Stock futures pointed higher Friday as Wall Street returned for a shortened trading session following the Thanksgiving holiday. Retailers will be in focus on Black Friday, which marks the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping season.

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November 24, 2023