Moderna Stock Down 1% Now, Is MRNA Really the Most Promising Coronavirus Stock?

Among the most notable coronavirus shares is Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) stock, as the race for a possible vaccine continues. Moderna is the brain behind mRNA-1273, which is a drug that essentially contains a set of instructions meant to direct the body to make proteins that can fight the coronavirus. 

The shares have impressively added around 202% year-to-date, over 160% in the past three months, and a whopping 270% in the past one year. However, in the past month, the shares have lost around 5.21% to settle around $58.48 (-1.05%) at the time of reporting. 

The volatility has been increasing since the company announced its race in developing a coronavirus vaccine in the first quarter. In the past 52 weeks, the shares have been ranging between $11.54 in the lows and $87.00 as the ATH.

Moderna (MRNA) Stock Hype amid Coronavirus

Despite not having a product in the market, the company has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion as of the time of reporting. Stock market investors have been finding the company as a potential investment to buy and hold for huge profit returns.

The company has several products in the pipeline awaiting approval from different government agencies. However, most are betting that the mRNA-1273 will be approved among the first vaccines and be in a position to deliver to the ready market.

As the hype around the stock increased during the second quarter, the volatility sharply rose in mid-May, which saw the shares drop from trading around $84 to around $45 within a week. The volatility is likely due to the fact that top executives sold a lot of shares during phase 1 clinical reporting, hence raising eyebrows in the stock market.

It was seen as if the executives had insider information and were acting on it before the public got to know. On the contrary, the sale was done in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that was adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2000 to enable insiders to trade shares without engaging in insider trading.

As a result, the sale of the shares by the four top Moderna’s executives was planned way before they got the information. The shares have become so popular that its valuation metrics have skyrocketed recently, whereby the company is trading at about 218 times its estimated future sales.

As a leader in the quest for developing a coronavirus vaccine and also being among the five selected biotech companies by the Trump administration, certainly, the hype around its stock is not overrated.