If You Invested $1,000 In BioNano (BNGO) Stock At Its COVID-19 Pandemic Low, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash in 2020 have generally experienced some big gains in the past two years. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others since the pandemic bottom.

BioNano's Bumpy Road: One company that has been a great investment in the past two years has been biotech stock BioNano Genomics Inc BNGO.

BioNano’s key technology is its Saphyr System, a cytogenetic testing device that detects structural deficiencies within a cell’s nucleus. The system then uses genome mapping for disease diagnosis.

While the FDA has not approved the Saphyr System for medical diagnostics in the U.S., researchers are free to use the technology and healthcare facilities outside the U.S. are experimenting with the system.

The goal is to see whether the lab can improve the detection of cancer abnormalities at a potentially lower cost. Using the Saphyr System, the typical time it takes to collect the sample, analyze the sample and generate results is about three days, a potentially huge improvement over the seven to 10 days it takes using other cytogenic analysis methods.

Researchers have found that Saphyr was just as accurate as other cytogenic analysis tests in identifying constitutional diseases caused by genetic abnormalities, a promising sign for BioNano.

At this point, Saphyr is potentially still in its infancy in terms of growth. BioNano reported just 196 installed systems as of the end of the second quarter, up 62% from a year ago.

At the beginning of 2020, BioNano shares were trading at just $1.32. By the beginning of March, the stock was down to $1.08 as news of the coronavirus spreading in China prompted concerns about a U.S. pandemic.

When the market crashed during the U.S. pandemic outbreak in March, BioNano shares plummeted, hitting their pandemic low of 25 cents on April 2, 2020.

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Fortunately, when the market bounced in late March 2020, BioNano began to rebound as well. In fact, the stock made it back above $1 by July.

BioNano shares jumped 40% on Dec. 23 after the company published the results of a study demonstrating the superiority of its optical mapping technology for detecting large structural variations (SVs) in de novo sequencing data.

BioNano In 2022, Beyond: Optimism about Saphyr coupled with the extreme move of the study news soon got the attention of Reddit’s WallStreetBets community. A short squeeze sent BioNano shares skyrocketing as high as $15.69 in February 2021.

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Despite persistently impressive growth, BioNano reported just $6.7 million in revenue last quarter and has yet to demonstrate a profitable business model. As the post-squeeze enthusiasm for the stock has died off, BioNano shares have traded all the way back down to $1.83.

Still, investors who bought BioNano stock the day it hit its 2020 pandemic low and held on have generated some impressive returns at this point. In fact, $1,000 in BioNano stock bought on April 2, 2020, would be worth about $7,066 today.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting BioNano stock to rebound significantly in the next 12 months. The average price target among the three analysts covering the stock is $8, suggesting 336% upside from current levels.

Photo: fizkes via Shutterstock