QuidelOrtho Corporation (QDEL): Among The Oversold NASDAQ Stocks to Invest in Now?

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Oversold NASDAQ Stocks To Invest In Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) stands against the other oversold NASDAQ stocks.

The NASDAQ soared to an all-time high on October 7, getting a boost from tech and mega-cap stocks. In an interview with CNBC on October 26, Nick Colas, Co-Founder at DataTrek Research Nick shared his insights on the current market trends and the potential for the tech-heavy index to continue its upward momentum. Colas discussed the historical data on the index’s performance in the third year of a bull market, highlighting that in six out of ten instances, the index continued to rally, while in four instances, it did not.

Colas noted that the overall churn for the index in the third year of a bull market is 4.4%, which is not impressive, but attributed this to the four losing years of 1984, 1987, 1990, and 2011, which were marked by significant events such as the 1987 crash and the 1990 invasion of Iraq. However, when these numbers are excluded, the average return for the index in the third year of a bull market is 13.3%. Colas expressed his optimism that as long as there are no major catalytic events, the momentum is likely to continue, and the NASDAQ could see at least a 10% return, if not better.

Colas argued that the index’s performance has not been uniform, with other groups and small caps taking leadership occasionally, indicating a healthier market than in the 1990s, when tech stocks dominated. He also pointed out that while the NASDAQ is up 45% over the past 12 months, its three-year returns, including the 2022 bear market, are more modest, suggesting that the index still has room to run.

Colas acknowledged that valuations are high, but emphasized that valuations are notoriously bad at timing the market. He believes despite the high valuations, the NASDAQ’s momentum and the overall market trend could continue to drive the index higher.

The NASDAQ’s recent surge to an all-time high has sparked optimism about its future performance, with some experts predicting continued growth despite high valuations. While there are always uncertainties and potential risks, the current trend suggests that the index may have further room to run. With that in context, let’s take a look at the 10 oversold NASDAQ stocks to invest in now.

QuidelOrtho Corporation (QDEL): Among The Oversold NASDAQ Stocks to Invest in Now?

A pharmaceutical sales rep holding a medicine pack, highlighting the drug candidate products.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 10 oversold NASDAQ stocks to invest in now, we used the Finviz and Yahoo stock screeners to find the largest NASDAQ stocks that have fallen significantly on a YTD basis and have a forward P/E of less than 15, as of October 23. We then narrowed our choices to 10 stocks according to their hedge fund sentiment, which was taken from our database of 912 elite hedge funds as of Q2 of 2024. The list is sorted in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment, as of the second quarter.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)  

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 33  

Forward P/E Ratio as of October 23: 12.56  

YTD Performance as of October 23: -46.20%

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) is a diagnostics healthcare company that focuses on innovative in vitro diagnostic technologies designed for point-of-care settings, clinical labs, and transfusion medicine.

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its rapid diagnostic testing solutions. However, as demand for pandemic-related tests declined QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) has faced headwinds, resulting in a steep drop in stock performance.

On August 29, QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) announced that it received FDA 510(k) clearance for its VITROS syphilis assay, a test that uses  emission of light as a result of a chemical reaction to detect and identify syphilis antibodies in human serum or plasma. This new assay is available on the VITROS 3600 Immunodiagnostic System, VITROS 5600, and VITROS XT 7600 Integrated Systems in the US.

This achievement further strengthens QuidelOrtho Corporation’s (NASDAQ:QDEL) position in infectious disease testing. The assay detects total antibodies (IgG and IgM) to Treponema pallidum (TP)-specific antigens, which helps in the diagnosis of syphilis in conjunction with other tests and clinical findings.

This clearance allows the VITROS syphilis assay to be part of the company’s infectious disease portfolio, which is crucial for addressing the rising syphilis epidemic in the US and is expected to provide more timely and accurate diagnoses for effective syphilis treatment and control. There are over 176,000 new cases of syphilis annually and a 36% increase in primary and secondary syphilis since 2021, the assay improves laboratory efficiency, follows CDC’s reverse testing algorithm, and reduces costs by enabling earlier detection.

Overall QDEL ranks 6th on our list of the oversold NASDAQ stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of QDEL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than QDEL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.