Moderna Stock: Will FDA’s Covid Vaccine Approval Extend Sales?

Moderna stock jumped Monday after the Food and Drug Administration fully approved its Covid vaccine for all adults.

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Previously, the vaccine was allowed under emergency use authorization. The full approval means Moderna (MRNA) can change the vaccine’s price and advertise directly to consumers. It’s now known as Spikevax and can remain on the market after the pandemic ends.

Spikevax joins Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech‘s (BNTX) Covid vaccine, Comirnaty, which is also fully approved for people ages 16 and older.

On today’s stock market, Moderna stock climbed 6.2% to close at 169.33. BioNTech stock also popped 6.1% to 172.08. But Pfizer stock sank 3% to 52.69. Also Monday, Pfizer backed out of a development deal with Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) for a heart-disease drug.

Moderna Stock: Omicron Shot Underway

The FDA approval is for Moderna’s original two-shot Covid vaccine and doesn’t impact the half-size booster shot. The latter remains authorized for emergency use. Meanwhile, Moderna is still working on boosters to target the omicron variant.

Chief Executive Stephane Bancel called the FDA decision “momentous” for Moderna. This is the company’s first fully approved product — ever.

“Our Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to hundreds of millions of people around the world, protecting people from Covid-19 infection, hospitalization and death,” he said in a written statement. “The totality of real-world data and the full (approval) for Spikevax in the United States reaffirms the importance of vaccination against this virus.”

Even without full approval, sales of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine have propelled Moderna stock. Today, Moderna is the fourth-biggest biotech company by market cap, following giants like Amgen (AMGN) and Gilead Sciences (GILD).

Moderna Sales Expected To Peak

Recently though, Moderna stock has been under pressure. Shares are now well below their key moving averages, according to MarketSmith.com. The downfall comes amid a broader sell-off for biotech stocks.

The full approval could help Moderna extend the runway for its Covid vaccine. Experts don’t yet agree on whether the disease has already become endemic. But most say if it hasn’t, it will. That means semiregular Covid shots could persist for years to come.

Moderna stock analysts currently expect the company’s sales to peak at $21.5 billion this year. After that, they expect sales to tumble to roughly $12.7 billion and $8.5 billion in 2023 and 2024, respectively. New products could help reinvigorate sales in 2025.

Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.

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