Biotech Stocks and Leveraged ETFs Lead Market Declines

Font: Financial Modeling Prep  • Sep 21, 2026

Biotech Stocks and Leveraged ETFs Lead Market Declines

• Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ: CUE) fell sharply even after reporting positive Phase 2 CUE-221 data, showing how biotech stocks can still sell off after clinical updates.
• DAMD, SMST, and NVOX moved sharply because leveraged and inverse ETFs magnify the daily moves of stocks like AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO).
• The day’s biggest losers reflected a mix of biotech volatility, profit-taking, and leveraged ETF mechanics.

Today’s market losers were led by biotech names and single-stock leveraged ETFs. Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ: CUE) dropped 23.70% to $28.27, despite announcing positive topline Phase 2 results for CUE-221 in chronic spontaneous urticaria. The stock initially drew attention from the clinical update but later reversed sharply.

Leveraged and inverse ETFs also saw major moves. DAMD, a 2x short ETF tied to AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), fell about 19.8% as AMD rallied nearly 10%. SMST, a 2x short ETF tied to Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), dropped about 18.7% as Strategy shares gained strongly.

Other notable declines included BioAffinity Technologies (NASDAQ: BIAF), down about 19% to $7.70, and NVOX, a 2x long ETF tied to Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), which fell about 15.8% as Novo Nordisk declined nearly 8%.

Overall, the session showed how quickly clinical-stage biotech stocks and leveraged ETFs can move when news, momentum, and daily-reset fund structures collide.