Moderna stock price forecast: UBS sees a 60% upside

Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) has been in a sharp downtrend since the start of this year but a UBS analyst says a full recovery is on the cards.

Moderna shares could return to $191

Eliana Merle now recommends buying Moderna shares as they can climb to $191 – a 60% upside from their previous close.

In her research note today, she said investors are too focused on a potential hit to revenue now that the COVID pandemic has subsided and are not fully appreciating the opportunity in its other mRNA vaccines.

Moderna’ cytomegalovirus vaccine could be a major potential upside driver over the next 1-2 years. We think success in CMV would have reads to other programmes (e.g. EBV).

Last month, Moderna reported its financial results for the first quarter that handily topped Street estimates.

Moderna stock is trading at a deep discount

Eliana Merle sees the company’s vaccines for flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as underappreciated as well.

She’s super bullish on Moderna stock also because it is currently trading at a deep discount. Her note reads:

We are upgrading now due to valuation pullback and pipeline progress where there’s a line of sight to the next generation of mRNA vaccines beyond COVID.

At writing, the biotech firm is down a whopping 40% versus its year-to-date high. The UBS analyst dubs RSV alone a more than $10 billion market opportunity for Moderna Inc that recently withheld declaring early success for its Influenza vaccine (read more).