Moderna Plunges After Pfizer Sees Just 24% Of Americans Seeking Covid Boosters

Shares of mRNA maker Moderna - better known as one of the main sponsors of the US open tournament which was won by the vocally unvaccinated Novak Djokovic who was barred from participating previously due to his unwillingness to succumb to Moderna's only product and Democrat brainwashing - tumbled as much as 9%, the biggest intraday drop since Aug. 7 and making it the worst performer in the S&P500 and Nasda q 100, after rival drugmaker Pfizer laid out a forecast of how many Americans are likely to get newly approved Covid-19 vaccinations. And yes, Pfizer and BioNTech shares also slipped.

Speaking at a JPMorgan conference, Pfizer CFO David Denton said his company projected that just 24% of the US population recommended to take the shots will decide to roll up their sleeves, representing a slight increase in takeup from the previous round of boosters. As a reference, 70.5% of the world population has (forcibly) received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In a note (available to pro subscribers), JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott said Pfizer sees the Covid business becoming more predicable beyond 2023 and remains neutral on the stock. Below we excerpt from his note:

PFE still anticipates updating its views on the COVID franchise with 3Q results and sees the COVID business becoming somewhat more predictable beyond 2023. With the recent authorization of Comirnaty in the US, PFE will be several weeks into the commercial rollout of the vaccine at the time of the company's 3Q earnings call. As a result, the company will update its views on how utilization is tracking in both the US (where guidance calls for a ~24% vaccination rate) and ex-US at that point and use this as a baseline to predict future demand. For Paxlovid, meanwhile, PFE continues to see 2024 as a much more typical year as there is still US government inventory that needs to be worked through this year. And overall, we would not be surprised to see the company lower its COVID guidance for the year with 3Q results, as was alluded to on the 2Q call

Trying to contain the damage, Pfizer CFO Denton said that "keep in mind the flu is probably closer to a 50% vaccination rate, so we haircut that pretty significantly for the year." Compared to Moderna, he had done his job: Pfizer stock dropped almost 2%, suffering far less damage than Moderna.

While it is encouraging that at least three-quarters of Americans don't have major psychological problems, enjoy being lied to by the government or have a masking fetish, it is concerning that at least a quarter are still willing to put their fate in the hands of a pharma industry that is rapidly losing control of a narrative that now equates covid with nothing more than a common cold or allergy.

More in the full JPM note available to pro subs.