Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff reiterates an Overweight rating on Moderna with a $170 price target after the company announced that mRNA-1273 retained activity and produced neutralizing titers against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants including the U.K. strain B.1.1.7 and South Africa strain B.1.351. No significant impact on neutralizing titers against the B.1.1.7 variant was observed, although a six-fold reduction in neutralizing titers was observed with the B.1.351 variant versus. prior strains, Tenthoff tells investors in a research note. Despite the slow vaccination pace, Moderna expects to deliver 200M mRNA-1273 doses in the U.S. by end of Q2, and 600M to to 1B doses globally by the end of 2021, the analyst points out. He thinks the SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccine will be able to further boost any of the leading vaccine candidates, which "could provide a revenue tail" for mRNA-1273.
Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak argues that Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) are the only two "mega-cap" tech companies not trading on some version of a sum-of-the-the parts valuation methodology with Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) "all having moved in this direction." However, he also believes the market is getting closer to the "appreciating and realizing" this value at Alphabet and thinks that continued YouTube revenue disclosure and upcoming full Google Cloud segment disclosure should help investors better understand and value Alphabet's underlying drivers. The analyst, who said his updated sum-of-the-parts analysis "speaks to how disclosure could drive Alphabet towards" being valued at $2,800 per share, keeps an Overweight rating and $2,050 price target on the stock.
Moderna announced results from in vitro neutralization studies of sera from individuals vaccinated with Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine showing activity against emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2. Vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine produced neutralizing titers against all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively. The study showed no significant impact on neutralizing titers against the B.1.1.7 variant relative to prior variants. A six-fold reduction in neutralizing titers was observed with the B.1.351 variant relative to prior variants. Despite this reduction, neutralizing titer levels with B.1.351 remain above levels that are expected to be protective. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center, or VRC, at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. The manuscript has been submitted as a preprint to bioRxiv and will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication. The two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at the 100 microgram dose is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date. Nonetheless, Moderna announced its clinical strategy to proactively address the pandemic as the virus continues to evolve. First, the company will test an additional booster dose of its COVID-19 Vaccine to study the ability to further increase neutralizing titers against emerging strains beyond the existing primary vaccination series. Second, the company is advancing an emerging variant booster candidate against the B.1.351 variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa. The company is advancing mRNA-1273.351 into preclinical studies and a Phase 1 study in the U.S. to evaluate the immunological benefit of boosting with strain-specific spike proteins. Moderna expects that its mRNA-based booster vaccine will be able to further boost neutralizing titers in combination with all of the leading vaccine candidates. First detected in September 2020 in the United Kingdom, the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant has seventeen mutations in the viral genome with eight mutations located in the spike, or S, protein. The B.1.351 variant, first detected in South Africa, has ten mutations located in the spike S protein. Both variants have spread at a rapid rate and are associated with increased transmission and a higher viral burden after infection. The in vitro study assessed the ability of mRNA-1273 to elicit potently neutralizing antibodies against the new SARS-CoV-2 variants, using sera from eight Phase 1 clinical trial participants who received two 100 microgram doses of mRNA-1273, and separately using sera from non-human primates, or NHPs, immunized with two doses of 30 microgram or 100 microgram of mRNA-1273. For the B.1.1.7 variant, neutralizing antibody titers remained high and were generally consistent with neutralizing titers relative to prior variants. No significant impact on neutralization was observed from either the full set of mutations found in the B.1.1.7 variant or from specific key mutations of concern. Although these mutations have been reported to lessen neutralization from convalescent sera and to increase infectivity, sera from the Phase 1 participants and NHPs immunized with mRNA-1273 were able to neutralize the B.1.1.7 variant to the same level as prior variants. For the B.1.351 variant, vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine produces neutralizing antibody titers that remain above the neutralizing titers that were shown to protect NHPs against wildtype viral challenge. While thecCompany expects these levels of neutralizing antibodies to be protective, pseudovirus neutralizing antibody titers were approximately 6-fold lower relative to prior variants. These lower titers may suggest a potential risk of earlier waning of immunity to the new B.1.351 strains.
Baird analyst Ben Kallo raised the firm's price target on Tesla to $728 from $488 and reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of the company's Q4 results on Wednesday. The stock in premarket trading is up 1% to $856.00. After breaking ground on factories in Berlin and Austin, launching Shanghai operations in earnest and keeping promises of selling 500,000 cars in 2020, Tesla is entering the next stage of its evolution, Kallo tells investors in a research note. CEO Elon Musk "may be interested in proposing to combine his business interests into one superstructure," speculates the analyst. Kallo believes bias for the stock remains to the upside in the near term.