Covid is still with us
Monday saw a decline in BioNTech stock despite the German biotech company’s good quarterly reports. The medical behemoth posted better-than-anticipated first-quarter profits, but its forecast for Covid vaccine sales was much lower than the analyst’s projection.
BioNTech reported EPS of €9.26 on revenue of €4.28 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of €7.63 on revenue of €3.9 billion. The decline in Covid vaccination sales caused a 23% decline in commercial revenue year-over-year. Consequently, operational income declined 30% year-over-year to €3.29B.
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BioNTech, in collaboration with Pfizer PFE +0.52% (PFE), created the first US-approved Covid vaccine and relies heavily on vaccine sales for its total income. BioNTech also introduced the world’s first bivalent Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted Covid vaccine.
The business now expects to make €5 billion in revenue from Covid vaccine sales in fiscal year 2023, while analysts had predicted €8.95 billion. The company’s projection for Covid vaccine sales for the full year 2023 is far below the current consensus of nearly €8 billion, indicating the declining demand for population-wide booster vaccines.
“As we look to 2023 and beyond, we plan to continue investing in our transformation with a focus on building commercial capabilities in oncology and working towards registrational trials. Our mid-term goal is to seek approval for multiple oncology products in cancer indications with high unmet medical need.” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech.
More omicron shots incoming?
In other Covid-related news, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is close to approving a second dose of revised Covid vaccination boosters for high-risk individuals. The decision might be made within a few weeks, according to the WSJ.
FDA is also contemplating approving second injections of Omicron-targeted vaccines for those aged 65 and older or those with compromised immune systems, but a final decision has not been made. After the FDA approves the second Omicron-tailored boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be required to promote the injections.
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In August, the FDA approved the so-called bivalent COVID boosters, that focus on the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants as well as the original coronavirus strain. Next month, the upgraded boosters were introduced in the United States. According to official figures, about 54 million bivalent vaccination doses have been delivered as of March 15th, covering 16.4% of the US population.
The bears have the upper hand
The BioNTech stock opened with a 4% drop so far after the data in the 121 to 123 range. The price remains under the 200 day average line of 147.70, with slight corrections towards the 135.0 resistance.
The bears are keeping the pressure, so far pushing the price towards the October low of 118. This level is acting as the current support for the bulls.
The bulls could take advantage of this drop to correct the market towards the above mentioned 135 area seen last week. Given that the trend seems to be bearish since January, there isn’t much more upwards action to be expected.
BioNTech 1D chart, source: tradingview.com, author’s analysis
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