Moderna
shares were trading lower after a Wall Street firm turned bearish on the vaccine maker days after it issued strong quarterly results.
HSBC
Global Research analysts led by Yifeng Liu downgraded Moderna to Reduce from Hold but raised their price target to $86 from $75 in a Monday report.
Moderna stock was down 3.8% to $92.78 in early afternoon trading, while
Pfizer,
another maker of vaccines for Covid-19, was off 2%. The
S&P 500
slipped 0.1%.
“The market appeared excited about Moderna’s results for Q4 2023 and confirmation of its guidance for 2024 with revenue set to be supported by COVID-19 vaccine sales and RSV vaccine launch, a major priority for 2024,” HSBC analysts wrote. Last week, Moderna topped quarterly profit and sales expectations.
The team says the company’s cancer vaccine program “has been at the centre of debate regarding the company’s prospects” while its vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus—which causes mild cold-like symptoms in most people but can be serious in babies and the elderly—has sparked worry. Recent data indicate that its efficacy wanes faster than that of rival vaccines, “raising concerns over its market potential after the launch in 2024,” HSBC wrote.
“We think mRNA-1345 [the RSV vaccine] is likely to be priced at a discount to the competitors due to the possibility of more frequent dosing,” they said.
Up next is a meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that HSBC says has the potential to move the stock. The analysts pointed specifically to a discussion of RSV vaccine data scheduled for Thursday, saying it should offer insights about the performance of Moderna’s vaccine.
Write to Emily Dattilo at [email protected]
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