Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) shares have followed a downtrend ever since completing a double top formation in late September. After bottoming in early October, the stock reversed course and moved higher in anticipation of authorization for its COVID-19 booster shot.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended late Thursday that the FDA grant an emergency use authorization for a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine for a select high-risk population.
In a buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news move, the stock trended lower Friday after advancing 13% from the Oct. 7 low of $293.58. It settled Friday's session down 2.3% at $324.21.
Moderna is recouping the losses, trading up 4.11% at $337.52 midday Monday.
The chief catalyst is an upgrade of its shares by CFRA from Hold to Buy with a $385 price target.
On Friday, Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff upgraded Moderna shares from Neutral to Overweight while maintaining the price target at $445. The analyst premised his upgrade on a recent stock retreat that he said has rendered the valuation attractive.
Separately, a Financial Times report, citing data from Airfinity, said Moderna, along with Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE)-BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), will generate $93.2 billion in combined COVID-19 vaccine sales in 2022, double the amount generated in 2021.
The two companies will likely control about 75% of the non-Chinese COVID19 vaccine market in 2022, the report said.
Related Link: The Week Ahead In Biotech (Oct. 18-23): J&J, Biogen Kickstart Big Pharma Earnings, Regeneron-Sanofi, Roche Await FDA Decisions And IPOs
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