Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Novavax's stock price surged from $6.73 to $7.21 after the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.62 EPS, significantly beating analysts' expectations of a loss.
• Despite the positive earnings report, the company's quarterly revenue fell by 42.4% compared to the same period last year.
• Analyst ratings on Novavax are mixed, with a consensus of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.86, indicating potential for future growth despite recent downgrades by several firms.

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $6.73, but opened at $7.21. Novavax shares last traded at $7.92, with a volume of 7,809,034 shares changing hands.

The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.74. Novavax had a negative return on equity of 103.47% and a net margin of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $239.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 42.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVAX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Novavax from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Novavax from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novavax has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.86.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVAX. Sanofi bought a new stake in shares of Novavax during the fourth quarter worth $55,319,000. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Novavax in the 1st quarter worth $16,210,000. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new position in Novavax during the 4th quarter worth about $16,080,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 195.9% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 880,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,547,000 after purchasing an additional 582,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Novavax during the second quarter worth about $3,382,000. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novavax Stock Down 1.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.96 and a 200-day moving average of $7.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 2.50.

Novavax Company Profile

Novavax, Inc, a biotechnology company, that promotes improved health by discovering, developing, and commercializing vaccines to protect against serious infectious diseases. It offers vaccine platform that combines a recombinant protein approach, nanoparticle technology, and its patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response.