Moderna's CMV trial offers further upside - UBS

Investing.com - Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) impressed Wall Street with its full-year 2023 results on Thursday, and UBS sees further gains ahead, calling the drug maker’s broader pipeline “underappreciated.”

Moderna stock jumped over 13% on Thursday to close at $99.44 after the company reported FY23 revenues of around $6.8 billion and reiterated its 2024 guidance.

“Overall we saw little new from the call vs. prior commentary, and we think yesterday's strength was more macro driven/short covering given the 4Q revenues&'24 guidance were disclosed previously,” UBS analysts said, in a note dated Feb. 23.

That said, the Swiss bank sees potential in the second half of the year.

“It will be a 2H story for revenues (mgmt expects ~$100M in 1H revenues), which we think will be important for understanding the COVID endemic market size over time,” UBS said.

Investor debate continues on the size of Moderna's opportunity after recent longer-term data, but it’s the management's commentary on its Ph3 CMV trial which offers encouragement.

“We continue to see CMV - a leading cause of congenital birth defects - as a large ($3B+) and underappreciated market opportunity,” UBS added.

The bank has a ‘buy’ rating on the stock, and a 12-month price target of $143.