The stock market has seemed unstoppable lately, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.52%) has been leading the way higher all year. The Nasdaq extended its year-to-date gains to more than 40% on Tuesday afternoon, with the index climbing about half a percent as of just before 2 p.m. EST.
The biggest stocks in the Nasdaq were fairly quiet on Tuesday, but some smaller players had some blockbuster news to announce. Stitch Fix (SFIX -1.79%) reported financial results that wowed shareholders who've had to be patient for a while. At the same time, upstart Curis (CRIS -4.58%) vaulted into the spotlight with a huge gain.
Stitching together a big bump higher
Shares of Stitch Fix soared 42% on Tuesday afternoon. The subscription-based fashion curator and apparel home-delivery specialist once again delivered great results, but for the first time in a long time, investors seemed to appreciate its performance fully.
Image source: Stitch Fix.
The numbers spoke for themselves. Fiscal first-quarter revenue climbed 10%, with Stitch Fix adding 241,000 new clients in just the past three months to reach nearly 3.8 million subscribers. Moreover, the company was profitable, posting net income of $9.5 million and earnings of $0.09 per share.
Even more importantly, Stitch Fix reached record-high levels of success in giving people clothing they wanted to keep. First-shipment performance was the best in more than five years, and that's a particularly essential component of the service's long-term prospects, because first impressions are critical in determining whether new subscribers will stick with the company over the long run.
Investors in Stitch Fix had to wait years for it to gain momentum. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to drive shop-from-home interest, the new upward trend could last quite a while.
Curis starts its cancer fight strong
Gains for Curis were even more impressive, with the stock up a whopping 340%. The tiny biotech company produced encouraging study results that could point to a new treatment for a common disease.
Curis has been doing a phase 1 study of its CA-4948 protein kinase inhibitor in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. The study involved using CA-4948 as a single therapy, and preliminary data showed that all participating patients showed reductions in marrow blast, with some showing a favorable complete response with respect to marrow. The treatment showed no dose-limiting toxicity issues at this stage in the trial.
The company intends to continue the phase 1 study, with the hope of reporting more data by the second half of next year. Moreover, it's also conducting an early-stage study of the treatment in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Investors have high hopes that Curis will join the worldwide fight against all forms of cancer successfully. If more positive results follow, then today's gains could be just the beginning for the biotech stock .
