Piper Sandler analyst Edward Tenthoff raised the firm’s price target on Moderna (MRNA) to $166 from $136 and reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares after the company reported that mRNA-1273 showed 94.5% efficacy against COVID-19 on the first interim analysis of 95 cases. The stock in premarket trading is up 14%, or $12.37, to $101.76.
The “impressive” response demonstrates protection for the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly, and mRNA-1273 was well tolerated with the majority of adverse events being transient, Tenthoff tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees wider distribution of mRNA-1273 relative to Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech’s (BNTX) BNT162b2, noting it remains stable at conventional refrigeration temperatures for 30 days and requires no dilution.