With the summer travel season in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic may seem like a thing of the past. But if you’re not up to date on your vaccines and boosters, the consequences can be dire, according to President Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “If they’re not vaccinated or boosted, they’re going to be in trouble,” Dr. Fauci told KNX News 97.1 — a Los Angeles radio station — earlier this week. He points out that vaccine and booster rates in America are “pretty discouraging.” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 228 million Americans (or 70% of the US population) were not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines as of July 20, 2022. Staying “up to date” on vaccines means they have received the main series and at least one booster dose. It is difficult to say whether the warning of Dr. Fauci will lead more Americans to get vaccines and boosters for COVID-19. However, it gives investors a reason to check out the companies that make these vaccines.
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Modern (MRNA)
Currently, the most prevalent strain of COVID in the US is Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant. And Moderna could help the country deal with it. Earlier this week, company CEO Stéphane Bancel told Yahoo Finance that they are “working very hard” to get a variant-specific booster ready this fall. “We are already making the BA.4/5 vaccine as we speak,” he says. “We’ll give more data as we get closer to it, but we know how important it is. And know that every day counts.” In the second quarter, Moderna generated total revenue of $4.7 billion, up from the $4.4 billion it earned a year ago. Management attributed the top-line increase to higher product sales of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. The story continues Moderna shares are not immune to this year’s market selloff, however. They are down about 20% in 2022. Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff has an “overweight” rating on Moderna and a price target of $214 — about 14% above where the stock sits today.
BioNTech (BNTX)
BioNTech is another big name in the COVID vaccine business. According to Statista, more than 355,396,322 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 have been administered in the US as of July 20 — more than vaccines made by any other manufacturer. On June 25, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that Omicron-adapted vaccine candidates showed a high immune response against Omicron. There is also hope for addressing new subvariants. “Preliminary laboratory studies show that both Omicron-tailored candidates neutralize Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, although to a lesser extent than for BA.1,” the companies said as they continue to “collect addnl. study data for Omicron BA.4 /BA.5.” BioNTech will report second quarter earnings on Monday, August 8 before the bell. Previously, management said it expected revenue from BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to be between €13 billion and €17 billion for the full year 2022. Last month, SVB Securities analyst Daina Graybosch upgraded BioNTech from “market perform” to “outperform.” The $233 price target on the stock suggests a potential upside of 28%.
Novavax (NVAX)
When it comes to COVID vaccine stocks, Novavax is a new name worth considering. Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Adjuvanted (NVX-CoV2373). In the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, the two-dose vaccine was 90.4% effective in preventing mild, moderate or severe COVID-19. “This authorization reflects the strength of our COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy and safety data and underscores the critical need to offer another vaccine option for the U.S. population as the pandemic continues,” said Novavax President and CEO, Stanley C. Erck. a press release. Shares of Novavax, however, have tanked — down 57% year to date. B. Riley Securities analyst Mayank Mamtani sees a recovery on the horizon. He has a Buy rating on Novavax and a $171 price target. Considering that Novavax is currently trading at around $60 per share, Mamtani’s price target implies a potential upside of 185%.
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