Rising market tide fails to lift some Mass. firms

The stock market hit bottom on March 9 and has been climbing almost nonstop since. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up a whopping 60.5 percent since that low. In Massachusetts, the shares of 212 public companies have gained ground.

“The market rally has encompassed virtually the entire university of equities,’’ says Tom Manning, chief investment officer at Silver Bridge Advisors in Boston. “The old saying about a rising tide lifting all boats certainly proved to be the case.’’

Well, almost all boats. A small number of local stocks actually lost ground while the broader market was soaring. What company executive wants to explain how that happened to their shareholders?

Some companies on the list, such as Biopure Corp. of Cambridge and Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Waltham, filed for bankruptcy during the stock rally. A number of other losers are little penny stocks that trade erratically. The Boston Capital wrong-way stock list eliminates them all from consideration.

That leaves seven Massachusetts companies that have fallen anywhere from a fraction of 1 percent to 30 percent since March 9. As a group, they are overwhelmingly involved in the biotech industry. Two small banks also make the list of stock losers.

Biotechnology stocks often swim against the market’s tide. Companies work in labs and hospitals for years developing medical products, so their shares tend to be insulated from economic trends that whip the stock market or prop it up. But this year most biotech stocks have been big winners, with the leading Amex Biotechnology stock index up 64.8 percent since March 9.

Likewise, small banks have encountered their share of trouble as the economy sputtered this year. But the Russell 2000 Financial Services index has soared 51 percent since the market low in March.

The real story of the local stock market losers is in the details. Most companies suffered one kind of business setback or another while the stock market was roaring. They encountered different kinds of problems, but most reported bad news that wasn’t received well by investors.

Take Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, the biggest loser on the list. Infinity shares have sunk 30 percent, mostly because it halted clinical trials of a cancer treatment in April.

The company pulled the plug on human trials testing the experimental medicine because too many of the patients with digestive cancer died. Infinity shares lost nearly half their value on the news, regained some ground over the summer but have been slipping again through the fall. A company spokeswoman noted Infinity has enough cash to support its business operations through 2013.

Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge, by far the biggest and best-known company on the Massachusetts list, suffered a stock decline of 3.4 percent during the rally. The company had to shut down production of its two most important drugs when a virus contaminated its facilities in Allston, a business crisis that kept the stock reeling through the summer. Genzyme expects to begin shipping the two drugs, Cerezyme and Fabrazyme, at the end of this month and in December, a spokesman said yesterday.

Alkermes Inc., another Cambridge biotech, managed through two different business problems during the stock market rally. First, Johnson & Johnson decided to stop developing an experimental formula for the schizophrenia drug Risperdal it produced with Alkermes. Within weeks, chief executive David Broecker was on the way out and chairman Richard Pops was back in his old role as chief executive.

The bad news has taken its toll on Alkermes shares, which are down 5 percent during the market boom. A company spokeswoman declined to comment.

Two other smaller biotechs, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge and Celldex Therapeutics Inc. of Needham, avoided serious business problems. But both continued to report modest revenues and significant losses. Indenix shares fell 27 percent and Celldex stock drooped 5.3 percent during the market rally. Officials speaking for both companies pointed to business progress despite the stock setback.

Two small banking companies, Berkshire Hills Bancorp of Pittsfield and Westfield Financial of Westfield, remained profitable but struggled with the economy this year.

Shares of Westfield slipped 2.5 percent and Berkshire Hills stock dipped 0.6 percent while the market roared.

Of course, stock market fortunes can change. Yesterday’s losers can become tomorrow’s champs. But all seven Massachusetts stocks on the Boston Capital wrong-way list have been swimming against a powerful and profitable stock market tide this year.

Steven Syre is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at syre@globe.com.