Moderna Shares Are Trading Lower Following News of Antiviral Pill and Marvell Sees a Ton of Opportunities
Moderna
Moderna shares were under pressure once again this morning. The Covid-19 vaccine maker saw double-digit percentage losses Friday, following news of Merck’s (MRK) successful late-stage trial for its new antiviral pill. Moderna fell 4% in premarket trading, Merck rallied another 2.7% in the premarket following Friday’s 8.4% surge.
Moderna is trading lower Wednesday after Denmark paused use of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine for people under 18 years of age.
Vaccine stocks were still sliding, four days after U.S. drug giant Merck said its Covid-19 antiviral pills cut hospitalization or death by approximately 50%.
Moderna CEO ,Stéphane Bancel, recently stated in an interview that he he believes the pandemic could end next year. One possibility if he’s right, is that annual COVID-19 vaccine boosters will be needed. Another possibility, however, is that vaccines will be less important after 2022. In either scenario, it’s likely that COVID-19 vaccine sales will be well below their current levels.
For the last reported quarter, Moderna came out with earnings of $6.46 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.01 per share, representing a surprise of 7.49%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $2.04 per share and it produced earnings of $2.84 per share, delivering a surprise of 39.22%.
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Shares of Marvell Technology were higher by 7%. The chipmaker made several announcements at its annual investor day that raised confidence in the company’s prospects.
According to Marvell Technology, Inc., the company has a long-term sales growth target of 15% to 20% versus the prior 10% to 15%. The company also has a target of returning more than 50% of free cash flow to shareholders.
Matt Murphy, president, and CEO of Marvell Technology said, “Marvell is completing its five-year investment plan and now finds itself in the exciting position of being a leader in 5G wireless, automotive and high-performance computing.”
The company also completed its acquisition of Innovium, a provider of networking solutions for cloud and edge data centers.
“The cloud is in the middle of a long-term secular growth trend, he added, and Marvell is in the “sweet spot” of cloud-optimized silicon that will help drive that growth for years to come.”
Marvell Technology, Inc. is a Wilmington, Delaware-based semiconductor solutions provider with a $49.2 billion market capitalization. Marvell delivered a 25.85% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 50.44%.
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
