10 Red Days In A Row: Axsome Therapeutics Stock Is Down 13%
Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) stock is on a 10-day losing streak, down 13.2% since the run began. That erased about $1.3 billion from the company’s market value, which now stands at about $8.8 billion. The stock closed at $170.08 on Thursday, October 8, 33.3% below its 52-week high of $255.17 and 43.3% above its low of $118.71.
The Streak Next To The S&P 500
Returns for AXSM and the S&P 500 over the streak and the periods around it, all ending Thursday, October 8 and including dividends:
| Return Period | AXSM | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Day | -1.7% | -0.5% |
| 10 Days (Current Streak) | -13.2% | 0.8% |
| 1 Month (21 Trading Days) | -19.3% | 1.8% |
| 3 Months (63 Trading Days) | -27.3% | 2.8% |
| Year To Date | -6.9% | 14.4% |
| 1 Year (252 Trading Days) | 43.4% | 17.0% |
Is This Move About Axsome Therapeutics Or The Market?
The market explains little of this: the S&P 500 gained 0.8% over the same 10 sessions, including dividends, against Axsome Therapeutics’ -13.2%. Over the past three months the stock is down 27.3%, a window that includes the streak; over the other 53 sessions of that window it was down 16.2%.
Is The Business As Weak As The Stock?
On the fundamentals, revenue grew 56.9% over the last twelve months, against a median of 8.1% for S&P 500 Health Care stocks; and its operating margin is -23.5%, versus a median of 17.6%. Axsome Therapeutics does not have positive trailing earnings, so there is no meaningful price-to-earnings multiple to compare. The fundamentals give the sellers some support: an operating loss.
If the drop has you weighing an entry, resist buying on price alone. Our Buy the Dip screen ranks the marked-down names where growth and cash generation still hold up.
Weakness In One Name Should Be Noise, Not News
For a diversified holder, a streak like this is a data point. For a concentrated one, it is a hole in the plan. The difference is never the stock; it is the portfolio built around it.
Building that portfolio is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does: roughly 30 businesses with the cash generation and balance-sheet strength to absorb a bad month, selected and rebalanced by rules. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Make the next streak, in either direction, someone else’s drama.