Amgen Just Broke Out. Now it’s Bouncing.

Biotechnology has quietly moved up the industry rankings in the last month. We recently highlighted the long-term breakout in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF and now its biggest holding (8% of assets) has some interesting patterns: Amgen.

AMGN broke out to new highs in late 2019 and crashed along with the rest of the market in March. It then proceeded to make a higher low in June as it found support at its 200-day simple moving average (SMA). This produced a cup-and-handle chart pattern.

The stock had a tight bullish flag above its 50-day SMA in late June, and then ripped to new highs after winning a patent case against Novartis.

AMGN pulled back last week. It formed a hammer candlestick on Friday and is now bouncing at its 8-day exponential moving average (EMA). That line can serve as a potential risk-management area.

There are two reasons why it may not dip a lot more. First, AMGN hasn’t run much yet versus its December highs. So, there may not be many profit-takers yet. Second, the relative strength in IBB following its recent breakout could provide tailwinds.

AMGN reports earnings after the closing bell on July 28.
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