TOPLINE: What had been a booming Moderna stock price took a major step backward Wednesday, falling more than 15% on the heels of an analyst’s warning that the stock’s soaring price was an “unrealistic valuation” based on hype around the company’s Covid vaccine.
KEY FACTS
Moderna’s price closed at $385.33 on Wednesday, after closing at more than $450 on Tuesday.
The drop marks the second-straight day Moderna’s stock has fallen, following a scathing analysis from Bank of America’s Geoff Meacham on Monday.
The analysis called Moderna’s price “ridiculous” and “unjustifiable on a fundamental basis,” noting the 11-year-old company’s market cap had exceeded those of drug companies that are over a century old.
Meacham placed his price target at $115—more than 75% lower than the price at Monday’s close.
Even with losses over the past two days, the stock’s price is still up more than 65% over the past month alone and around 450% from last year.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“We continue to view current levels as unjustifiable on a fundamental basis, despite remaining positive on mRNA technology,” Meacham said.
KEY BACKGROUND
Moderna has been a massive supplier to the Covid-19 vaccination effort in the U.S., with its doses accounting for more than 140 million of the shots administered in the U.S., according to the CDC. Only Pfizer and BioNTech have supplied more vaccines, accounting for just short of 198 million doses. But the rate of vaccination in the U.S. is significantly below what it was during the spring, despite a slight uptick over the past few weeks, and the Bank of America analysis noted health officials are still advising that booster shots are not yet needed.
TANGENT
Prices of Pfizer and BioNTech also dropped significantly on Wednesday, though not as much as Moderna’s. Pfizer’s price dropped 3.9%, BioNTech’s nearly 14%.
FURTHER READING
By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff