What happened

The large-cap biotech Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw a healthy 10.2% rise in its share price Thursday morning. The company’s shares are up by double digits. So why is Moderna stock surging? Because they had greater-than-anticipated sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax, in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Ahead of the opening bell, Moderna reported fourth-quarter 2021 revenue of $7.2 billion. Wall Street, on the other hand, was anticipating revenue of roughly $6.8 billion for the three-month period.

So what

Prior to today’s rebound, Moderna’s stock had tumbled 46% year to date. The biotech firm was declining gradually due to doubts about the commercial viability of its COVID-19 vaccine, as well as Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech’s (NASDAQ:BNTX) rapidly expanding share of the coronavirus vaccination market.

In terms of what it means for investors, the Q4 earnings report offers a few compelling reasons to think that market conditions may be shifting in favor of Moderna’s Spikevax. Moderna’s vaccine clearly outpaced Pfizer and BioNTech’s competing products throughout the final months of 2021, based on this strong revenue increase.  There is a growing market that is increasingly rewarding product innovation.  Knowing this perspective,  it clearly indicates that Moderna is closing the gap with its competitors.

Now what

Is Moderna’s stock a buy following this strong earnings report? It all depends on your perspective of the firm’s long-term value proposition.

Moderna has a respectable war chest of money and assets totalling $17.6 billion. That amount of funds is which is more than enough to handle any future needs. Furthermore, as part of today’s financial report, the biotech announced a $3 billion stock buyback program. Finally, Moderna is currently working on 44 clinical trials.

There’s a lot of potential for the stock to surge even higher in the months and years ahead, as more data on Moderna’s clinical pipeline is released. As a result, there is certainly a bull case for this next-generation mRNA therapy and vaccine firm.

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