Moderna Could Offer Low-Risk Buying Opportunity

Moderna Could Offer Low-Risk Buying Opportunity

Moderna Inc. (MRNA) fell 11.4% on Friday after Dow component Merck and Co. Inc. (MRK) announced positive clinical results for a pill to reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and death. If emergency use is approved, patients can take the pill after infection but it won’t replace the billions of vaccinations still needed to inoculate the planet. The decline added to a string of losses since late September, bringing the total weekly loss to a staggering 19.44%.

MRNA’s float is just 344 million shares, far lower than the billions at Merck, Pfizer Inc. (PFE), and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), generating volatile price action that’s highly levered to pandemic catalysts, positive and negative. In fact, shareholders have been whipsawed by price swings of 80 points or more, higher and lower, four times since the end of July. Unfortunately, accumulation has deteriorated badly on the latest downturn, exposing the stock to a deep Q4 correction.