What Happened?
Shares of biotechnology company Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) jumped 3.6% in the afternoon session after the company announced it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025-2026 season.
The approval covers the company's Spikevax® and new mNEXSPIKE® vaccines, which are formulated to target the LP.8.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2. According to the announcement, the updated Spikevax is approved for individuals from 6 months to 64 years of age with at least one underlying condition, and for all adults 65 and older. The approval provides a clear path for Moderna to commercialize its latest vaccine ahead of the fall season, with the company stating the shots are expected to be available in the coming days. CEO Stéphane Bancel highlighted the public health need, noting that COVID-19 was responsible for nearly half a million hospitalizations last year.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $24.93, up 0.8% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Moderna’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 52 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock dropped 3.1% on the news that markets continued to decline, as investors grew cautious ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The move came as U.S. equity markets recorded a fifth consecutive day of losses for major indexes like the S&P 500, with technology stocks experiencing the largest declines. Investors have grown wary that the sharp rally in the tech sector since April may have advanced too far. The market-wide caution is largely driven by the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium, a meeting of central bankers, where traders are anxiously awaiting Fed Chair Powell's speech on Friday for guidance on the future path of interest rates.
Moderna is down 40.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $24.93 per share, it is trading 68.7% below its 52-week high of $79.51 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Moderna’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $366.40.
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