These 7 small caps are on fire as the second half begins: Here’s why

The Russell 2000 opened the second half of 2026 pinned near a record around 3,000, going almost nowhere since the first half closed.

Underneath that flat tape, seven small caps ripped 28% or more in just four trading sessions.

The index, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, is coming off a 22% first-half gain, its best opening six months since 1991.

Most of these seven names are still deep underwater for the year, which is the tell: this is not broad small-cap strength lifting everything.

It is a handful of stocks repricing on their own hard catalysts, from takeovers to court-cleared refinancings to a Medicare reversal.

7. Orthofix Medical Inc.

Shares of Orthofix Medical Inc. OFIX are up 28% in July, but still down 23% this year.

Washington handed Orthofix its catalyst. On July 1 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reversed billing and fee-schedule changes it had made in May for non-invasive bone growth stimulators, restoring reimbursement to prior levels.

Those devices are the company’s core revenue engine, so the reversal erased a reimbursement overhang that had dragged the stock toward its 52-week low.

Shares jumped roughly 10% after hours when the news broke, then added about 15% as the market fully repriced the change.

6. REGENXBIO Inc.

Shares of REGENXBIO Inc. RGNX soared 28% in July, and up 7% this year, one of only two names on the list still green in 2026.

On June 22 the gene-therapy developer said it had aligned with the Food and Drug Administration on resubmitting its NAVSUNLI application for Hunter syndrome, with no new studies or patients required after a February rejection.

The stock gapped up about 25% on the news.

A Type A meeting with the agency is expected in July, and a resubmission is targeted for the third quarter.

Partner AbbVie added to the momentum, triggering a $100 million milestone payment after the first patient was dosed in a retinal-disease study.

5. Verastem, Inc.

Shares of Verastem, Inc. VSTM rose 29% in July, but still down 36% this year.

There is no single headline behind this one. Verastem carries short interest near 21% of its float, so with the oncology group catching a bid, the setup was primed for a squeeze.

The company kept feeding the story through late June with early data on its KRAS G12D inhibitor VS-7375 and a move into a registration-directed pancreatic study, while Wall Street price targets sit far above the stock.

4. ADC Therapeutics SA

Shares of ADC Therapeutics SA ADCT jumped 30% in July, but still down 60% this year.

This is a rebound off a wreck. The stock lost roughly 70% in early June after mixed Phase 3 LOTIS-5 data showed its lymphoma drug improved progression-free survival but carried higher serious and fatal events in older patients.

A 17% workforce cut followed. With the shares crushed to about a dollar and one of the few pure-play commercial antibody-drug conjugate names left standing, a deeply oversold bounce met revived M&A speculation across the space.

3. Sable Offshore Corp.

Shares of Sable Offshore Corp. SOC are up 32% in July, but still down 55% this year.

The oil producer spent June collapsing from about $13 to near $3 on fears it could not refinance a term loan owed to Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM before it matured.

On July 2, the company closed the fix. It raised roughly $345 million in convertible notes and about $107 million in new equity, and put in place new senior secured facilities that repaid the Exxon loan and cleared the going-concern overhang.

2. Rapid7, Inc.

Shares of Rapid7, Inc. RPD soared 46% in July, but are still down 22% this year.

The cybersecurity firm has been the market’s favorite takeover guessing game for two years, with activist Jana Partners pushing for a sale and private-equity names circling. No confirmed bid has landed.

What lit July was a combination. A broad rally across the cyber group lifted the whole sector, a leadership transition kept the sale thesis alive, and a punishing short base sat on a stock that had already been left for dead.

1. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CRNX skyrocketed 123% in July and are up 79% this year.

On July 6, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX agreed to buy Crinetics for $85.00 per share in cash, valuing the endocrine-drug maker at about $10 billion. Both boards approved the deal unanimously, and it is expected to close in the third quarter.

The stock more than doubled to trade near the offer.

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