Although the vaccine by AstraZeneca has not been globally approved, it was used in the treatment of U.S. President Donald Trump.
AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN) stocks were trading slightly above $55 during Monday’s pre-market, nearly 1% up from Friday’s close. The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is developing a coronavirus vaccine candidate with a brand name AZD1222. According to the company, the drug works by using a viral vector (ChAdOx1 – chimpanzee adenovirus Oxford 1) based on a weakened version of a common cold (adenovirus) virus that contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein.
The tweak in the AZN stock is partly related to the news that the company was awarded $486 million by the United States government to supply 100k vaccine doses.
Notably, although the vaccine by AstraZeneca has not been globally approved, it was used in the treatment of U.S. President Donald Trump after he tested positive for coronavirus.
The supply is expected to start by the end of this year and roll over through next year, whereby the country expects to purchase upto 1million doses.
AZN Stock Boosted by AstraZeneca Vaccine Progress
The AZN stocks are in a solid bull rally and investors are confident with the company’s ability to deliver quality value in the future amid possible volatility. Furthermore, they have just broken out of multi-year consolidation and possibly accumulated enough buyers to fuel the rally years to come. The company had a market capitalization of approximately $143.69 billion at the time of reporting with 2.62 billion outstanding shares.
AZN shares had a 52-week range of 36.15 and 64.94 through Monday. According to figures provided by MarketWatch, AZN stocks have added 24.82% in the past twelve months. They had jumped 9.75% year to date through Monday. In addition, they were up 2.78%, 1.30%, and 0.42% in the past three months, one month and five days respectively.
Having been analyzed by 26 credible Wall Street analysts, AZN stocks received an average rating of Over. Over rating is between a buy and a hold rating.
On the Flipside
The United States has been leading with the number of people infected with the coronavirus, whereby there were approximately 8 million people infected with the virus at the time of reporting.
Previously, the company indicated that it had signed a licensing deal with the Serum Institute of India to provide 1 billion doses to low- and middle-income countries, with 400 million of those shots set to be delivered by the end of 2020.