Shares of Moderna (MRNA) fell more than 9% on Wednesday, erasing most of Tuesday’s session’s gains during a volatile week for the stock following the first reported bird flu deaths in the US, fueling the development of a vaccine came to attention.
The stock rose more than 10% on Tuesday before reversing course early on Wednesday. Over the past five trading sessions, the stock is up about 4%.
Closing: January 8 at 4:00:01 PM EST
In July 2024, Moderna received $176 million from the US government to advance the development of its mRNA H5N1 (bird flu) vaccine, which is in early stages of testing. The award came after an outbreak of the virus in cows infected three dairy workers, raising concerns of an outbreak in humans.
As of January, there have been 66 confirmed cases of H5N1 in the U.S. since 2024, the CDC said Monday.
“CDC has carefully reviewed the available information about the individual 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 work-related or recreational exposure to infected birds or other animals are at greater risk of infection.”
After Moderna’s development of a COVID-19 vaccine delivered a huge boost in revenues — up more than 2,000% in 2021 over the previous year, with the vaccine maker posting 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 revenue reported 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 per share for fiscal 2024 and that revenue will halve from the previous year.
Even with this week’s rise, 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 see the shares rising to $74 on average over the next twelve months, implying a 56% gain from their current levels.
Shares of other companies developing an mRNA bird flu vaccine also rose after news of the bird flu death. Novavax (NVAX) stock rose nearly 11% on Tuesday. The German biotech company CureVac (CVAC) rose more than 4%.
CureVac is developing an mRNA bird flu vaccine in collaboration with London-based pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GLAXO.BO). Pfizer (PFE) shares rose a much more modest 0.9%, while GSK itself fell 1%.
A rise in COVID-19 cases reported by the CDC also helped keep vaccine makers afloat 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.
