Novacyt (LSE:NCYT) has been the hottest stock on AIM during the junior market's 25th year, with the company's success in developing Covid-19 testing tools propelling it from relative obscurity to the top 10 list of most-popular shares on the interactive investor platform.
The shares peaked at 529p on 16 April, meaning investors who bought back in late January when Novacyt first disclosed its testing progress would have been sitting on a profit of more than 3,000%. More recent buyers, however, have been left disappointed as the stock slipped back to just above the 200p mark at the start of this week.
They've recovered a little since then and were up as much as 15% to 276p today after Novacyt disclosed the launch of three new products to support laboratories testing for Covid-19. They include one for use by labs involved in performing high volumes of tests.
Source: TradingView. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
The recent share price decline comes amid signs the coronavirus is losing its potency in many European countries, as well as the possibility a vaccine will reduce demand for such tests.
In the meantime, the low capital intensity of its manufacturing process means Novacyt is generating significant levels of cash. It is also reaping benefits from having a much bigger base of global customers for its wider portfolio of diagnostic products.
Novacyt: cash pile builds amid Covid sales boom
Insider: bosses make fortunes backing Covid-19 winners
Stockwatch: two coronavirus stocks where momentum favours the brave
Safestore boasts an impressive track record of share price growth dating back six years, with the recent market sell-off the first serious setback for followers of this FTSE 250 index-listed stock.
The self-storage provider dropped 42% from the record highs seen at the start of the year to as low as 501p in mid-March, although some recent reassurance for income investors has meant it is back trading at 754p.
The company paid a dividend of 12p a share worth £25.3 million in April, while today's interim results revealed an increase in the half-year payment of 7.3% to 5.9p a share. It also pointed out it was capable of generating free cash after dividends sufficient to fund the building of two to three new stores per year depending on location and availability of land.
CEO Frederic Vecchioli said:
"We believe the resilient characteristics of the self-storage industry, together with our leading market positions across the UK and Paris, place the business in a strong position to withstand the economic uncertainty arising from Covid-19.”