7 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now

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This week, seven biotechnology stocks are improving their overall rating on Portfolio Grader. Each of these rates an “A” (“strong buy”) or “B” overall (“buy”).

This week, Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. () is showing good progress as the company’s rating jumps from a B (“buy”) last week to an A (“strong buy”). .

Pharmacyclics, Inc. () is bettering its rating of C (“hold”) from last week to a B (“buy”) this week. Pharmacyclics is a pharmaceutical company developing products to improve upon current therapeutic approaches to cancer, atherosclerosis, and retinal disease. .

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.’s () ratings are looking better this week, moving up to a B from last week’s C. Acorda Therapeutics is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the identification, development and commercialization of novel therapies that improve neurological function in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury and other disorders of the central nervous system. With a price of $38.89, it is above the 50-day moving average of $34.85. .

Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. () boosts its rating from a C to a B this week. Northwest Biotherapeutics engages in discovering, developing, and commercializing immunotherapy products to treat cancers in the United States. The stock price has risen 20.9% over the past month, better than the 1.3% decrease the Nasdaq has seen over the same period of time. .

This is a strong week for Seattle Genetics, Inc. (). The company’s rating climbs to B from the previous week’s C. Seattle Genetics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is focused on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. .

Amgen () gets a higher grade this week, advancing from a B last week to an A. Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets medicines for serious illnesses. The stock’s price of $126.07 is above the 50-day moving average of $122.23. The stock has a dividend yield of 2.4%. .

This week, BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s () ratings are up from a C last week to a B. BioMarin Pharmaceutical develops and commercializes innovative pharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Microsoft Stock Is Leading the Dow

With IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) , the largest component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Index: ^DJI), having lost almost 8% of its value, the blue-chip index is down 0.12% as of 1:25 p.m. EDT. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) is up 0.67% to 1,552.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is weighted solely by stock price, so IBM, with its $191 stock price, is the largest component of the Dow, with a weighting of nearly 11%. Chevron and 3M are second and third with respective weightings of 6% and 5.5%. I find that the S&P 500 is a much more useful measure of the market, as it is weighted by companies' market caps. However, the Dow is far more popular because it has been around longer.

IBM has plummeted today after it reported worse-than-expected earnings last night. The company reported earnings per share, excluding one-time items, of $3, short of analyst expectations of $3.05. Revenue of $23.4 billion missed analyst expectations of $24.7 billion. The company kept its full-year earnings guidance constant at $15.53. The earnings report is worrisome, as revenue was down or flat across all of the company's major business segments.

Today's Dow leader
Today's Dow leader is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) , up 3.2%. Microsoft and other tech stock were hit hard last week after market research firm IDC reported that PC sales were far worse than expected in the first quarter of the year. While the report put much of the blame on smartphones and tablets, the researcher also blamed Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system for deterring consumers from buying new PCs. The report led many investors to believe that Microsoft would have a weak quarter like many other technology stocks are having.

Last night, Microsoft reported earnings that broke technology stocks' streak of disappointing earnings. The company reported EPS growth of 18% to $0.72, beating Wall Street forecasts of $0.68, while revenue growth of 18% to $20.5 billion was right in line with expectations.

The Windows division took in revenue of $5.7 billion, up 23% from last year. At first glance, this would seem to fly in the face of the IDC report. However, if you adjust revenue for the company's Windows Upgrade Offer, which deferred revenue until this year, then Windows revenue was unchanged from the year-ago quarter.

While Windows 8 isn't doing the company any favors in the sales department, the division is still massively profitable, with an operating income of $3.5 billion in the first quarter. The other big driver is Microsoft's business division, which reported operating income of $4.1 billion -- though that was also boosted by deferred revenue from an earlier upgrade offer.

It's been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who have watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He's also providing regular updates as key events occur, so be sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.