Why Shares Of COVID-19 Vaccine Maker Moderna Are Shooting Higher On Monday

Shares of coronavirus vaccine maker Moderna Inc. MRNA were rallying in premarket trading on Monday.

What Happened: Jefferies analyst Michael Yee upgraded shares of Moderna from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $170 to $275, suggesting 42% upside from current levels.

The analyst sees the COVID-19 vaccine as no longer the thesis on the stock, with the consensus estimate for vaccine sales coming down from $20 billion in 2021-22 to $6 billion to $8 billion in 2023-24.

Moderna stock will likely go up in 2023, the analyst said, premising his deduction on the following factors:

• New polycythemia vera cancer is the new story after last week’s positive Phase 2 data for its personalized cancer vaccine in skin cancer patients.
• The Phase 3 respiratory syncytial vaccine data will likely be positive.
• This will set the stage for combo vaccines with two to three antigens, which are all in Phase 2 stage and for which data readouts are expected in 2023.
• Orphan disease franchise data is due in 2023.

“We see stock rebounding back up in 2023, a return of pipeline opportunities and a "story stock" as generalist and HC interest revisits the stock,” the analyst said.

Price Action: In premarket trading on Monday, Moderna shares were climbing 4.12%, to $201.26, according to Benzinga Pro data