As of today’s close, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) is trading at $417 per share, up roughly 13 percent over the past five trading days. The Moderna stock has seen a number of favorable events during the past several days. For example, Moderna recently submitted a Covid-19 booster vaccination to the FDA, as well as a conditional marketing approval application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Another possibility is that Covid-19 vaccination requirements for school-aged children might be implemented in the United States. As of March, Moderna began testing its Covid-19 vaccinations on children under the age of 12; findings should be available by the autumn. It’s possible that if the vaccine is authorized for children, it may result in a larger demand for the vaccine. The Moderna vaccine also generates twice as many antibodies as the Pfizer and BioNTech shots, according to recent research based on data from 1,647 Belgian healthcare professionals. Despite the fact that we can’t conclude that Moderna’s shot is definitely better based on this data alone, the company’s overall results are encouraging.
At $417 per share, is Moderna stock a good buy? Accordingly, the firm’s stock currently trades at slightly over 14 times expected 2021 earnings as analysts have raised their profit expectations for the company. This is not a very high multiple for a hot biotech stock that has seen a lot of growth in the past several months. A lot depends on whether Moderna can maintain its growth and profits as vaccination rates increase throughout the world. The vaccine industry is also becoming more competitive, with products like NOVAVAX (a cheap and highly effective vaccine) expected to enter the market later this year.
What Are the Risks of Investing in Moderna?
Since the beginning of the year, Moderna stock (NASDAQ: MRNA) has risen by nearly 2.5x, trading at about $390 per share as of Friday. Covid-19 booster injections are becoming increasingly popular because of new virus strains that might transform the vaccine, which was supposed to be a one-time offering for Moderna into an ongoing income source. In spite of this, Moderna’s market valuation is currently about $160 billion, making it the most valuable biotech company in the United States, and the dangers appear to be significant for investors wanting to participate at present prices. In terms of profit estimates for 2021, Moderna trades at around 16x. Investors must look at the stock from a long-term perspective to determine the stock’s worth. No matter how long it takes for vaccination rates to rise, whether you are using the best strategies for stock trading or not and no matter competition to increase in the vaccine market for Covid-19, it’s probable that sales of the vaccine will decline by 2021 and investors will see the money loss. It’s possible that more vaccinations will be available in the future if Covid-19 becomes endemic, for example. Moderna’s revenues are expected to fall by -16 percent in 2022, according to the average forecast. Aside from Covid-19, Moderna’s mRNA technology has yet to be proven.
Most of the recent gains in Moderna’s stock may be attributed to the company’s admission in the S&P 500 index in mid-July. As a result, index funds monitoring the index and funds benchmarked to the index likely bought Moderna shares in order to match the index’s performance. According to those investors that use trading automation in the stock marketplace, Moderna stock has become a favorite stock in the United States, because of its high visibility and rising stock price. Stocks might become turbulent as momentum traders begin to pull back.
Reasons for Moderna Stock Value Gaining
After peaking at about $104 per share in 2020, Moderna’s stock (NASDAQ: MRNA) is now trading at over $485.00. S&P 500 rises nearly 20 percent in the same time span.
Since mid-June of 2021, the stock has risen from approximately $200 to values near $500. There are a number of variables that have contributed to the current increase.
Covid-19 will be more difficult to manage than first believed, especially in nations with high vaccination rates, when new viral strains develop. Over the past month, the number of cases in highly-vaccinated Israel has increased by approximately tenfold as well. The protection conferred by Covid-19 vaccinations begins to decrease after a few months, according to research. Moderna’s mRNA technology, which can be more swiftly modified to battle new variations, is well-positioned to serve this industry. Accordingly, investors are more likely to re-rate Moderna’s shares higher because of its extremely profitable Covid-19 vaccine sales (rather than merely being a one-off pandemic product).
In recent weeks, the stock price has risen significantly as a result of this momentum.
Do you think Moderna stock has further upside potential? No one knows. As of now, the stock is trading at roughly 20 times expected earnings in 2021. That’s not a lot of money for a hot biotech stock that’s had a good year. A lot depends on the company’s ability to sustain growth and margins as vaccination rates improve around the world and competition in the vaccine market increases with companies like Novavax, which is developing a cheap and highly effective shot that will likely hit the market in the second half of 2018.
More than 20% has been added to Moderna’s share price in the previous week, beating the S&P 500, which is down by approximately 1%. Recent gains have coincided with Moderna’s inclusion in the S&P 500 index on July 21. Demand for Covid-19 injections has caused Moderna stock to increase by more than 2.5 times in the past year. Is it possible for Moderna to reach a $400 stock price in the next year or two? Due to a number of factors, this appears to be a genuine possibility.
After a 35 percent gain in the previous month, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) has seen its stock rise by over 11 percent in the last five trading days alone. Earlier this week, the firm said that the United States Department of Defense had purchased another 200 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which would likely be used to vaccinate youngsters or as a booster injection. It’s possible that the new agreement might be worth upwards of $3 billion, assuming a $16.50 price per dosage, which is what the United States paid for the first vaccination.
