As Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) stock spiked sharply on August 19, catalyzed by positive late-stage trial results for its personalized mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) cancer vaccine; $1,000 invested in this company a week ago has more than doubled in value.
On August 12, Moderna stock opened the day trading at $60.51, but had rallied to $144.46 on Wednesday, representing a 125.64% uptick. As such, $1,000 invested in MRNA a week ago is now worth $2,256.40 at press time, or a profit of $1,256.40.
The vast majority of these gains were made over the past 24 hours as MRNA’s price moved from $63.75 to $163.47. As a result, Moderna stock surged to its 52-week peak and revisited the highest level since May 28, 2024.
The sharp rise over the past 24 hours was fueled by a potential product breakthrough, as Finbold explained. Specifically, Moderna and its partner Merck (NYSE: MRK), announced interim results from the INTerpath-001 trial involving more than 1,100 patients with high-risk melanoma, skin cancer, whose tumors had been surgically removed, revealing success without any new safety concerns.
Is Moderna stock a good buy?
As Moderna announced positive interim results of its Phase 3 clinical development, 7 Wall Street analysts updated their ratings for this stock. Salveen Richter, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) assigned a Hold rating for MRNA stock.
Richter raised the bank’s 12-month price target from $67 to 120, signaling a potential 16.93% downside. Jessica Fye, an expert from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), maintained a ‘Sell’ rating for MRNA, and set a 12-month price target of $40, implying a possible 72.31% selloff.
Consequently, 15 Wall Street analysts surveyed by TipRanks have set an average 12-month price target of $59.54, which suggests a 58.78% capitulation. Nonetheless, Moderna stock remains in President Donald Trump’s portfolio, thus likely to gain traction amid product breakthroughs despite analysts’ concerns.
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