• Moderna stock jumps sharply on Wednesday, up over 8%.
• News of a Merck option boosts the stock.
• News around covid is also seen to boost Moderna’s potential.

Moderna (MRNA) was one of the hot stocks of the covid era before eventually winding down as it appeared we had finally overcome the scourge of covid. Perhaps not so fast as the WHO says Europe is facing a new wave but hopefully not as bad as previous ones. Moderna’s stock price has slid as covid itself slinks off into the background. The stock is down 45% year to date and nearly 58% in the past 12 months.

Moderna stock news 

We have already outlined the strong cash position Moderna is in after massive revenues from sales of its covid drugs. In our article Three dividend stocks that look interesting for the long run: BHP, MRNA, BTI, I cheekily included Moderna despite it not yet paying a dividend. With so much cash, however, it will come under pressure to return some to shareholders either via dividends or buybacks. Moderna already has alluded to this in its earnings release. 

Source: Refinitiv

Moderna stock spiked 8% on Wednesday. Merck (MRK) has exercised its option to jointly develop and commercialise Moderna’s new cancer vaccine. Merck will pay Moderna $250 million for the option, and the two companies will then split costs and profits equally. Also of note as mentioned above is the potential for Moderna’s covid vaccine revenues to extend. The WHO said it looks like another wave of covid in Europe has begun and encouraged people to get vaccinated. Moderna and Pfizer covid vaccines were also approved for kids as young as five years old by the FDA. These are the updated shots that target the new strains of covid. 

Moderna stock forecast

This zone that I have highlighted from $110 to $120 has again acted as a strong support point on the long-term chart. Moderna will announce earnings on November 2, and data from the work with Merck is expected in Q4, so there are news catalysts due. We need to keep an eye on the speed of the move. The stochastic looks overbought, but as yet we have no confirmation signals from the Relative Strength Index (RSI). 

Moderna (MRNA) stock, daily