Modern logs (MRNA) fell over 9% on Wednesday, forfeiting most of its gains from Tuesday's session in a volatile week for the stock seen after the first bird flu death reported in the United Stateswhich gave focus to vaccine development.
The stock jumped over 10% on Tuesday before reversing course early on Wednesday. Over the last five trading sessions, the stock is up about 4%.
Close: January 8 at 4:00:01 PM EST
In July 2024, Moderna $176 million was awarded by the US government to promote the development of its H5N1 (bird flu) mRNA vaccine, which is in the early stages of testing. The award came after an outbreak of the virus in cows infected three dairy workers, prompting concerns about an outbreak in humans.
In January, it was 66 confirmed cases of H5N1 in the United States since 2024, the CDC said Monday.
“CDC has carefully studied the information available about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that the risk to the general public remains low,” the federal public health agency said. . “However, people who have occupational or recreational contact with infected birds or other animals are at increased risk of infection.”
After Moderna's development of a COVID-19 vaccine sparked a huge surge in revenue – rising more than 2,000% in 2021 from the previous year, with the vaccine maker turning its first ever profit – the company has sputtered in a post-pandemic world. Moderna's revenue fell 64% to just under $7 billion in 2023 (well below the $18.5 billion in reported sales in 2020), and the company reported a loss of about $12 per share.
Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg expect the company to report a loss of just over $9 a share for fiscal year 2024 and for sales to halve from the previous year.
Even with this week's gains, Moderna shares are down nearly 60% from last year. More than half of the analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance have a Hold rating on the stock but, on average, shares rise to $74 over the next 12 months, suggesting a 56% return from their current level.
Shares of other companies developing an mRNA bird flu shot also rose on news of the bird flu death. Novavax Stock (NVAX) surged almost 11% on Tuesday. German biotech company CureVac (CVAC) rose more than 4%.
CureVac is developing an mRNA bird flu shot in collaboration with London-based pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GLAXO.BO). Pfizer stock (PFE) ticked up a much more modest 0.9%, while GSK itself fell 1%.
Increase in COVID-19 cases reported by the CDC also helped support vaccine makers earlier this week.
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @laurabratton.bsky.social. Email her at laura.bratton@yahooinc.com.