Novavax price target raised to $17 from $10 at H.C. Wainwright

H.C. Wainwright analyst Vernon Bernardino raised his price target for Novavax to $17 from $10 and reiterates a Buy rating on the shares. The stock closed yesterday up 28c to $4.30. The agreement on a Phase 3 trial design for NanoFlu that Novavax announced with the FDA on August 5 sets the stage for the program to accelerate, Bernardino tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes Novavax's NanoFlu vaccine can now be approved in 2022 versus his prior expectation of 2024. He looks for share price appreciation to allow "successful financings" in 2020 and 2021, positioning Novavax to independently launch commercial NanoFlu worldwide.