Dr. Fauci: You’ll ‘get into trouble’ if you’re not up to date on COVID vaccines and boosters — here are 3 stocks that could get a shot in the arm

Moderna (MRNA)

Right now, the most dominant strain of COVID in the U.S. is Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant. And Moderna could help the country fight it.

Earlier this week, the company’s CEO Stéphane Bancel told Yahoo Finance that they are “working really 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 every day matters.”

In Q2, Moderna generated $4.7 billion of total revenue, up from $4.4 billion earned a year ago. Management attributed the top line increase to higher product sales of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine.

But Moderna shares are not immune to the market sell-off this year. They have fallen about 20% in 2022.

Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff has an ‘overweight’ rating on Moderna and a price target of $214 — roughly 13% above where the stock sits today.

Where should $100k+ portfolio's invest in?

Sponsored

Contemporary art has outperformed the S&P 500 by 131% for the past 26 years. Join the exclusive platform to invest in million-dollar works by artists like Banksy, Basquiat, and more. Get started today and diversify your portfolio with art.

Learn More

BioNTech (BNTX)

BioNTech is another big name in the COVID vaccine business.

According to Statista, more than 355,396,322 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.S. as of July 20 — more than vaccines made by any other manufacturer.

On June 25, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their Omicron-adapted vaccine candidates showed high immune response against Omicron.

There’s also hope for tackling new subvariants.

“Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate both Omicron-adapted candidates neutralize Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 though to a lesser extent than they do for BA.1,” the companies said as they continue to “collect additional study data on Omicron BA.4/BA.5.”

BioNTech will be reporting Q2 earnings on Monday Aug. 8 before the bell.

Previously, management said that they expect BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine revenue to come in between €13 billion and €17 billion for full-year 2022.

Last month, SVB Securities analyst Daina Graybosch upgraded BioNTech from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform.’ Her price target of $233 on the shares implies a potential upside of 32%.

Novavax (NVAX)

When it comes COVID vaccine stocks, Novavax is a new name worth considering.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Novavax COVID-19 vaccine Adjuvanted (NVX-CoV2373). In the critical 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 it underscores the critical need to offer another vaccine option for the U.S. population while the pandemic continues,” said Novavax’s president and chief executive officer Stanley C. Erck in a press release.

Novavax shares, however, have been pummeled — it’s down a staggering 57% year to date.

B. Riley Securities analyst Mayank Mamtani sees a rebound on the horizon. He has a Buy rating on Novavax and a price target of $171.

Considering that Novavax currently trades at $61.50 per share, Mamtani’s price target implies a potential upside of 178%.