Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading 7.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares shot up 7.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $36.92 and last traded at $36.2340. 4,058,034 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 10,444,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.84.

More Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised 2025 revenue view to roughly $1.9B (about $100M above the midpoint of prior guidance), reiterated up to 10% revenue growth for 2026, and flagged potential first approvals for flu and flu/COVID combo vaccines in 2026 — clear near‑term commercial and product catalysts supporting upside. Moderna expects 2025 revenue of $1.9B, above guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Projected year‑end cash of about $8.1B (including a $0.6B draw from a $1.5B term loan) and reiterated pipeline readouts in oncology, rare disease and infectious disease for 2026 — improves liquidity picture and highlights multiple binary events that can re‑rate the stock. Moderna Provides Business and Pipeline Updates at JPM
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented a detailed pipeline update at the 44th J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (transcript available) — useful for investors tracking timelines and readouts but contains few immediate commercial surprises beyond the guidance changes. JPM transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/opinion piece frames the V940 (Keytruda combo) data and vaccine revenue growth as a “high‑risk recovery” thesis — highlights significant upside if clinical readouts succeed but stresses binary risk and long timelines. Seeking Alpha analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures are effectively negligible/oddly reported (0 shares), so no clear short‑squeeze signal is evident from the release.
• Negative Sentiment: Management increased 2025 GAAP operating expense outlook by ~$200M (guidance now ~$5.0–5.2B), which along with a partial draw on a term loan raises margin and capital‑structure questions as revenue scales from pandemic peaks. Reuters: Moderna expects $1.9 billion in sales
• Negative Sentiment: Founder/chair public comments about political attacks on science have drawn attention and could create PR/policy risk in the U.S. market; investors may price in some reputational or regulatory uncertainty. MSN: Moderna chair comments

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Berenberg Bank set a $28.00 price target on Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Moderna from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $30.36.

Moderna Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.87. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.84 and a beta of 1.17.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $1.64. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 29.81% and a negative net margin of 139.61%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Moderna’s revenue was down 45.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $703,186.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,679.52. This represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Moderna by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,708,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,192 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 19.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,877,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,690 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 15.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,131 shares during the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP increased its holdings in Moderna by 2.5% in the third quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 8,068,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,417,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $94,910,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.