With earnings coming up, and given its recent slide, HGSI has been a stock to watch these past few weeks.
A positive earnings update last month caused a temporary spike in HGSI shares, but the general market downturn and a setback in the UK has had shares on the slide of late. That makes the upcoming earnings announcement crucial for stabilizing the share price and boosting investor confidence, which may have been waning.
That said, Tuesday's trading session will attract additional interest.
Monday's after-hours trading saw shares of HGSI traded hands for over $1.50 higher than the closing price, and that trend continued into the Tuesday AM's pre-market trading. Those moves may perk some investor interest, but before getting too excited, keep a couple of things in mind.
Volume was not all that significant - about 150,000 shares Monday after-hours, so the move may be indicative of nothing.
Additionally, it's been known that pre and post market moves such as this could be a precursor to either good or bad news coming; on the long side, someone picks up a few shares before the stock gets moving, and on the short side, a few more higher-priced shares are picked up before the selling starts.
Human Genome is on the 'potential buyout' list, with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) being the potential acquiring company of choice by investors given the Benlysta deal, so it's always possible that something will materialize on that front leading to the after-hours moves we've seen.
It's also possible that some Benlysta sales numbers may be leaking out.
Regardless, it'll be worth keeping an eye on HGSI during Tuesday's trading.
In these cases, however, I never suggest jumping in on the market open. After-hours trading means relatively little in the grand scheme of things, and those that buy at the open based on after-hours patterns often get slammed.
If there is news coming, absorb it, and make an informed buy/sell decision. Don't let the hype of after-hours spark an emotion-based trade.
Of course, these are just my opinions, each investor needs to devise his or her own investment strategy based on individual DD.
Disclosure: Long HGSI.
