Most of them develop drugs. One of them imports and sells fossil fuels. Another one sells sand.
The 20 Massachusetts-based companies with the largest stock gains over the course of 2022 (as of Friday, Dec. 16) span a range of industries. But, as is the case in most years, the majority are small biotech companies that received positive drug trial results or other good news over the past year that spurred investors to buy shares.
A few of those companies that aren’t drug developers are nevertheless in the life sciences market, such as Andover-based TransMedics Inc. (Nasdaq: TMDX), which makes devices to keep organs destined for transplants alive — and Lantheus Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LNTH), which makes diagnostic imaging agents and products.
See the slideshow above for the top stock gainers of 2022 among Massachusetts companies worth at least $100 million, and which had a stock price of greater than $1 both at the beginning and the end of the year.
A few, however, are in industries that aren’t considered particularly innovative: oil importer Global Partners LP (NYSE: GLP), and Boston Sand & Gravel Co., (OTC:BSND) which is traded over the counter and — as its name suggests — sells sand, gravel and cement used in construction.
This year was particularly bad for public companies in general, with most stocks losing value over the course of the year. Of the 354 Massachusetts-based public companies with market capitalizations of greater than $100 million, only 70 — about one fifth — saw their stock prices increase so far this year. The median company on the list lost 25% of its stock price since Jan. 1. That’s worse than the 20% drop seen this year among the S&P 500 index.
Based on lists of top stock gainers we’ve published in past years, however, it’s often the case that for many of the companies listed as top stock gainers in 2022, the good times might not last. The second top-performing company on last year’s list — Aspen Aerogels (NYSE: ASPN) — is 13th from the bottom of the list this year. (The top company on last year’s list, textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co., was taken private under a deal announced in February). Moderna Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), which last year was third on the list with a 146% stock increase, is right in the middle of this year’s list with a 24% loss as of last week.