Here’s why Natera is jumping in afternoon trading

Shares of Natera (NTRA) are up sharply in afternoon trading after a medical group issued a new set of recommendations, outlining their view that non-invasive prenatal screening, or NIPS, should be used over traditional screening methods for pregnant individuals to screen for fetal abnormalities. Earlier, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, or ACMG, released a new Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline, or EBG, that makes a "strong recommendation" for the use of NIPS over traditional screening methods for all pregnant individuals with singleton and twin gestations, to screen for fetal trisomy 21, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 as well as fetal sex chromosome abnormalities. The guideline replaces the 2016 ACMG Position Statement, which recommended that all pregnant individuals have access to NIPS and be made aware of its superior sensitivity for detecting common trisomies, the statement said. Stephens analyst Mason Carrico has said he views the updated recommendations around non-invasive prenatal screening from the group as a positive for Natera as well as Myriad Genetics (MYGN). The analyst believes the updated recommendations could improve access for patients and provide incremental tailwinds for broader NIPS adoption. While Carrico continues to view inclusion in the guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, as "the key catalyst to drive coverage of microdeletions," the ACMG recommendation could be viewed as a potential positive indicator, he tells investors. The analyst maintains an Overweight rating on Natera and Equal Weight rating on Myriad. Meanwhile, Piper Sandler analyst David Westenberg reiterated an Overweight rating on Natera shares after the ACMG released the guidelines, which he called "likely a precursor to ACOG guidelines." The analyst tells investors in a research note of his own that Natera is already running micro deletion, so this would be incremental revenue with zero incremental cost. In Friday afternoon trading, shares of Natera are up $3.82, or 10%, to $41.96 while shares of Myriad Genetics are down about 1% to $16.78. Reference Link