What Happened?
Shares of biotechnology company Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) fell 7.8% in the afternoon session after reports revealed Trump administration health officials plan to link COVID-19 vaccines to the deaths of around two dozen children.
The news, first reported by The Washington Post, sent shares of other major vaccine makers like Pfizer and BioNTech tumbling as well. According to the reports, the officials' findings are based on data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a federal database that collects unfiltered and unverified reports of possible side effects from the public. The potential for a government presentation linking the vaccines to adverse outcomes has created significant investor concern. Adding to the uncertainty, officials are also reportedly considering new restrictions on which segments of the population should be eligible for the shots. In response, Moderna issued a statement noting that regulators in over 90 countries have not identified any new or undisclosed safety concerns regarding its vaccine in children.
The shares closed the day at $23.51, down 7.4% from previous close.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Moderna? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Moderna’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 49 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock dropped 4.8% on the news that competitors Pfizer and BioNTech announced positive topline results for their updated 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine formula.
The data from Pfizer and BioNTech showed their vaccine produced a robust immune response, signaling continued strong competition in the COVID-19 vaccine market. This news overshadowed Moderna's own presentation at the Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare Conference on the same day. At the conference, CEO Stéphane Bancel outlined strategic priorities but also noted the company faces market uncertainties and is targeting cash flow break-even by 2028. The combination of strong competitor data and a distant profitability target likely concerned investors about Moderna's relative position and near-term growth.
Moderna is down 43.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $23.62 per share, it is trading 67.2% below its 52-week high of $71.99 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Moderna’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $370.98.
Today’s young investors won’t have read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.
