shares accident a company. NASDAQ:MRNA Stock prices rose more than 12% after news of the first confirmed death from the H5N1 bird flu virus in the United States. At one point, the stock rose more than 14% before making a comeback late in the trading session. However, the stock pulled back after hours, trading at $47.53, and has since fallen further.
Today’s talk
As of 10:58 a.m. ET
- 52 week range
- $35.80
▼
$170.47
- Price target
- $78.83
When a stock makes a sharp move due to news like this, investors need to take a deep breath before making any investment decisions. In this case, the move in MRNA stocks is mostly reactionary. Short interest is around 11%, so any increase in buying would result in some short covering.
This does not mean that there is no connection. The company received a $176 million grant from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in 2023 to create an updated mRNA vaccine for the H5N12 virus. This virus is currently in an early stage of testing. However, this is all speculative investors need to try to burn short positions, but it may not be enough to sustain the rally.
Is Moderna one of the best stocks for 2025?
Despite a consensus rating of Hold from Moderna analyst forecasts on MarketBeat, Baron Recently placed Moderna on our list of stocks to watch in 2025. Analysts are encouraged by the breadth of Moderna’s pipeline.
In total, the company expects to gain approvals for 10 new vaccines in the next three years. This includes three candidates that it plans to launch in 2025.
Moderna stock forecast today
$78.83
76.92% upHe catches
Based on 22 analyst ratings
| High expectations | $179.00 |
|---|---|
| Average expectations | $78.83 |
| Low expectations | $40.00 |
Moderna stock forecast details
In addition to treating respiratory viruses, Moderna has a partnership with… Merck & Co New York Stock Exchange: Merck To develop cancer vaccines. This is how Moderna sits at the personalized medicine table. The company’s most advanced candidate is V940-Keytruda, which entered Phase III trials in 2024. The vaccine has indications for melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and treatment-resistant lung cancers.
For its part in the partnership, Moderna is trying to identify genetic mutations in a patient’s cancer cells, then develop and administer a unique mRNA INT analysis for each patient. The idea is that each INT (Iodonitrotetrazolium), a chemical compound, will be specific to each patient and activate their immune system to fight their specific cancer cells.
Under the terms of the partnership, Moderna received an upfront payment of $250 million from Merck. The two companies are splitting development costs and will share profits or losses equally if the vaccine reaches commercial status.
Make the numbers add up
It is difficult to understate the importance that additional revenue from new vaccines can provide. Currently, Moderna generates approximately $3 billion in revenue each year. It also has a cash balance of $9 billion. That’s more than some biotech companies produce, even those with products on the market.
It is understood that the bulk of this revenue comes in the company’s third and fourth quarters, which are associated with the flu season in the Northern Hemisphere. As an example, Moderna reported revenue of $1.9 billion in its November earnings report. This brings the total for the first three quarters of 2024 to $2.2 billion.
However, the concern was the company’s spending on research and development, which Moderna revised downward but would still be about $4.7 billion annually. R&D spending was driven by the huge profits it made from the Covid-19 vaccine.
But that money dried up. Which means that the company is not profitable. This explains why MRNA stock is down more than 60% in 2024, making it not only one of the worst-performing medical stocks but also one of the worst-performing stocks of 2024 across all sectors.
Sell this news and wait for more
With the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report not due until February, it’s no surprise to see traders taking profits on this rally in MRNA stock.
But this is when the real opportunity may arise. Investors will wait for updates on the company’s pipeline.
Analyst forecasts on MarketBeat have a consensus price target of $79.50 for MRNA stock. This gives the stock a roughly 77% upside from its closing price on January 7. However, opinion on the stock was mixed, which clearly means that not all analysts are optimistic about Moderna’s prospects.
Before you consider Moderna, you’ll want to hear this.
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