Moderna Stock Rises After FDA Application For Updated Vaccine

Moderna's potential beyond COVID-19 is underappreciated, says analyst Eliana Merle, who upgraded the stock to Buy

June 26, 2023 2 min read

Moderna Stock Rises After FDA Application For Updated Vaccine

A healthcare employee injects a person with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Dennis Avenue Health Center in Silver Spring, Maryland on November 21, 2022. While COVID-19 remains a serious concern for this holiday season, rose in early trading on Monday, just days after the pharma company submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the authorization of an updated vaccine.The stock's current valuation reflects uncertainty around Covid vaccine revenues, according t Eliana Merle upgraded the rating for Moderna from Neutral to Buy, while reducing the price target from $221 to $191. PHOTO BY ERIC LEE/GETTY IMAGES

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Shares of Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) rose in early trading on Monday, just days after the pharma company submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the authorization of an updated vaccine.

The stock’s current valuation reflects uncertainty around Covid vaccine revenues, according t Eliana Merle upgraded the rating for Moderna from Neutral to Buy, while reducing the price target from $221 to $191.

The pullback in the stock suggests that the potential for mRNA vaccines in diseases beyond Covid is “underappreciated,” Merle said.

SUQIAN, CHINA – JUNE 11, 2023 – Illustration: BioNTech, Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, June 11, 2023. BioNTech has been hit with 150,000 in Germany’s first lawsuit over the side effects of its coronavirus vaccine. “We think latent viruses could be a large opp’y for mRNA and success in CMV would have reads to other programs,” Merle added. “In the respiratory franchise, filing for RSV is guided for 1H23, with a potential launch in ’24, which would expand MRNA’s revenues beyond COVID.PHOTO BY CFOTO FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES

Modern’a CMV vaccine could be “a major potential upside driver” over the next two years, she explained.

“We think latent viruses could be a large opp’y for mRNA and success in CMV would have reads to other programs,” Merle added. “In the respiratory franchise, filing for RSV is guided for 1H23, with a potential launch in ’24, which would expand MRNA’s revenues beyond COVID.”

MRNA Price Action: Shares of Moderna had risen by 1.47% to $120.24 at the time of publishing Monday.

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