Jumpstart 2018 With 2017’s Best-Performing Stocks

2017 was a strong year for the market in general, but it was an exceptional year for the stocks listed below. Madrgical Pharma, for example, posted incredible gains of over 550%, no doubt making some lucky investors very happy! As we move into 2018, we take a look back at five of the best-performing stocks this year. 

Let’s dive in and take a closer look now:

1. Madrigal Pharma (Nasdaq:MDGL): Gain 551%

Analyst consensus rating: Strong Buy, Average analyst price target: $135 (43% upside)

Madrigal exploded in early December following positive data from key Phase 2 trials. In response, Evercore ISI analyst Josh Schimmer raised his price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals to $140 from $65 to reflect estimates of increased entry into the NASH market. Long term safety is “now the only thing standing between here and what we think will be a blockbuster therapy,” says Schimmer. NASH- non alcoholic fatty liver disease- is set to become the biggest cause of liver transplants by 2020.

We can also see from TipRanks’ latest tool- the Individual Investor Sentiment feature- that investors are Very Positive on Madrigal stock right now. Indeed investors have increased holdings in Madrigal over both the last week and the last month.

2. CymaBay Therapeutics (Nasdaq:CBAY): Gain 423%

Analyst consensus rating: Strong Buy, Average analyst price target: $14.40 (59% upside)

Intrestingly, another stock with huge gains, CymaBay, is also focused on treating liver diseases.The company’s lead product candidate, seladelpar, is in development for the treatment of PBC, an autoimmune liver disease. So far the drug has been attracting very positive attention from the Street. Indeed, we can see that the stock has received only buy ratings recently, while Oppenheimer listed CBAY as its top biotech idea for November-Decemeber.

Seladelpar could be a ‘disruptive threat’ to the current PBC offerings according to Leerink’s Joseph Schwartz. After conducting a very encouraging phsycian survey, he ramped up his price target on the stock from $12 to $16. Schwartz says that while clinical data is still relatively limited, it has already stoked phsycian excitement for the treatment of patients with second-line PBC.