What happened

Shares of Invitae (NVTA 35.00%) were jumping 11.3% as of 3:05 p.m. EST on Thursday. The medical genetics company announced the issuance of its first environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report earlier in the day. However, the primary catalyst for Invitae was investors' renewed enthusiasm about growth stocks in general, with the Nasdaq Composite index rising 2.6%.

So what

ESG investing has caught on in a major way in recent years. Invitae's focus on sustainability and reducing its environmental footprint no doubt resonates with many investors.

Finger pointing at DNA image

Image source: Getty Images.

But probably even more investors are increasingly bullish about Invitae because they're more optimistic about the overall economy. President Biden's signing of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill today will likely mean that the U.S. economy will receive a significant boost heading into spring.

Invitae could benefit from the stimulus package at least indirectly. The legislation includes $47.8 billion to improve COVID-19 detection, diagnoses, tracing, and monitoring as well as $1.75 billion related to genomic sequencing, analytics, and disease surveillance. 

Now what

The main thing to watch with Invitae in the coming months is its new product launches and the integration of recent acquisitions. Invitae acquired genomic analysis company ArcherDX in October 2020 and announced the acquisition of microbial genomics leader One Codex last month.