Pacific Biosciences shares soar ahead of profits, after Softbank invests $ 900 million

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. PACB,
+ 20.51%
climbed 22.3% to a record high in morning trading on Wednesday, ahead of the DNA analysis company’s fourth-quarter report expected after the closing bell, following news that Japan’s Softbank Group Corp. SFTBY,
+ 0.51%
9984,
+ 1.56%
invested $ 900 million in the business. The stock has now climbed 230.0% in the past three months and has soared 1,051.7% in the past year. In comparison, the IBB iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF,
-0.40%
has gained 39.7% in the past 12 months and the S&P 500 SPX,
-0.20%
gained 16.5%. The company said Softbank’s investment was in the form of convertible senior notes, which will mature in February 2028, and will have an initial conversion price of $ 43.50, or 10% above the price. closing of $ 39.54 Tuesday. “We believe PacBio’s HiFi sequencing will be the de facto standard tool for population genomics fundamentally changing healthcare practice,” said Akshay Naheta, Managing Director of SB Management at Softbank. Separately, Pacific Biosciences is expected to report later fourth-quarter profit of 43 cents per share on revenue of $ 24.05 million, after breaking breakeven per share on revenue of $ 27. , $ 93 million, over the same period a year ago.