4 big analyst picks: Moderna sails higher on UBS upgrade

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Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares surged nearly 3% pre-market today after UBS upped the company to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $191.00 (from $221.00).

The upgrade is based on both valuation and Moderna’s pipeline beyond COVID. On valuation, the analyst believes the pullback “has begun to reflect significant risk to COVID vaccine revenues, but not the pipeline beyond COVID.”

And on that pipeline, which includes potential mRNA vaccines against RSV, the flu, and CMV, the analyst believes progress here “where there is a line of sight to the next generation of mRNA vaccines beyond COVID… could be a major [opportunity] ($3B+) and breakthrough into latent virus vaccines broadly, if successful.”

Turning to the company’s COVID offerings, Moderna completed its submission to the U.S. FDA last week for authorization for an updated COVID vaccine targeting the XBB.1.5 subvariant. This follows he FDA’s recent urging to vaccine manufacturers to develop monovalent shots specifically for XBB.1.5. Pending authorization, Moderna expects the updated vaccine to be ready for the public in the fall.

MoffettNathanson upgraded Wayfair (NYSE:W) to Market Perform from Underperform and raised its price target to $44.00 from $33.00.

After analyzing recent web traffic data, which indicates Wayfair is experiencing a material benefit from the recent bankruptcy of Bed Bath & Beyond, the firm decided to move to the sidelines.

“Improving demand from BBBY’s bankruptcy, our above consensus view of operating profitability, and a recent debt maturity extension is a tough narrative to fight as an Underperform,” added MoffettNathanson.

BMO Capital upgraded Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its price target to $275.00 from $269.00. Shares rose around 1% pre-market today.

BMO anticipates a reasonable upside to its above-consensus estimates due to the expected decline in raw material costs in the near term. Additionally, the housing markets have displayed promising signs that suggest it might not be as bad as previously anticipated.

KeyBanc upgraded Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) to Overweight from Sector Weight with a price target of $24.00. Shares rose more than 1% pre-market today.

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