Co-Diagnostics Jumps 28% on Ebola Test Progress and $3M Capital Raise

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Co-Diagnostics (Co-Diagnostics (CODX)) shares jumped nearly 29% on Wednesday after the molecular diagnostics company announced a $3.0 million private placement and key progress on developing a test for the Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BDBV) currently causing an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

The company plans to sell an aggregate of 1,647,447 shares along with warrants to purchase up to 3,294,894 shares. The effective offering price for each share and accompanying warrants is set at $1.821. That's a fairly standard structure for a small-cap biotech raising capital — shares plus warrants to sweeten the deal for investors.

On Tuesday, Co-Diagnostics said it has completed the assay development strategy for BDBV. This comes as the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday. As of May 17, eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 suspected deaths have been reported in the DRC, along with two laboratory-confirmed cases and one reported death in Uganda.

“We are pleased to report that we have completed the assay development strategy for BDBV, and should a situation arise requiring the assay, we expect we would be well-positioned to execute the strategy and rapidly make the test available,” said Dwight Egan, Co-Diagnostics CEO.

It's a classic preparedness play: the company is getting its ducks in a row so that if the outbreak escalates, it can quickly deploy a diagnostic test. That's the kind of news that gets investors excited, especially when paired with a capital infusion to fund operations.

Technical Outlook: Momentum Building, But Caution Remains

From a trend perspective, CODX is still trying to repair longer-term damage. It's trading about 62.3% below its 200-day SMA ($6.68), and the death cross that formed in January (50-day falling below the 200-day) keeps the bigger-picture bias cautious. The 12-month performance (down 69.09%) reinforces that this is still a recovery attempt, not a confirmed long-term uptrend.

In the near term, the stock is acting stronger. It's 49.4% above the 20-day SMA ($1.69) and 34.2% above the 50-day SMA ($1.88), which tells you the recent rally has real force. The catch is that price is still about 4% below the 100-day SMA ($2.62), so the next step for bulls is proving this bounce can clear intermediate resistance rather than fading back into the prior range.

MACD is the cleaner momentum read right now. It's above its signal line and the histogram is positive, which points to improving upside pressure versus the prior downswing. In plain terms, that “above the signal line” setup often shows sellers are losing control, even if the longer-term trend hasn't fully flipped yet.