Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) is 1.8% higher to trade at $109.29 at last check, after the company received $750 million in funding from Blackstone Life Sciences (BX) to develop mRNA flu vaccines. For the year, Moderna plans to spend roughly $4.5 billion in in research and development.
The shares have struggled with overhead pressure from the $115 level since September, but have added 75% off their Nov. 2 three-year bottom of $62.55. MRNA is poised to nab its fourth gain in the last five sessions, and has added 9.5% so far in 2024.
The brokerage bunch remains divided, with 10 of the 18 in coverage calling the equity a tepid "hold" or worse. Short interest, meanwhile, is down 7.7% over the last two reporting periods, while 6.4% of the stock's available float remains sold short. At MRNA's average pace of trading, it would take shorts five trading days to buy back their bearish bets.
Options traders are fiercely optimistic. Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the security's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.73 sits higher than all readings from the last year. In other words, calls have been more popular than usual.
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