Novavax (OTC:NVAX) Stock Attempts To Recover: How To Trade Now?

The COVID-19 pandemic may seem like a distant nightmare but the news of a fresh surge in cases recently send some stocks soaring on Monday. One of those was that of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing company Novavax (OTC:NVAX). The company saw its stock soar by as much as 13% on Monday amidst heavy interest as investors anticipate that there could be a spike in the demand for the vaccine.

As per recent data published by the United States government agency Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 had gone up at a national level again as per many tracking metrics. In the latest weekly period (July 16 to July 23) that had been tracked, the data from the CDC indicated that there had been a 12% rise in the number of hospitalizations for the disease. Additionally, the number of deaths had also gone up by just about 1%.

In this context, it ought to be noted that Novavax had developed the COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid, which was one of the three vaccines that had been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the product had also been provided with the coveted Emergency Use Authorization.

However, it ought to be noted that since the Nuvaxovid vaccine was the last one to be approved by the FDA, it had been playing catch up with the other vaccines in terms of sales. The rally in the stock may have been understandable but it ought to be noted that although a renewed COVID-19 wave may be a terrifying possibility, it is far from a certainty. Most experts do not expect the situation to escalate into a steady rise in the number of infections and many have also stated that most of the infections would not even be severe.

However, vaccine manufacturers like Novavax are almost certainly going to get their moment in the sun again if the situation escalates.

The company’s development of the vaccine had also been beset with setbacks and delays; however, the data did show that the vaccine was highly effective. Additionally, doubts had also been expressed regarding the company’s ability to continue to run its operations owing to the myriad challenges. That prompted Novavax to announce that it was going to work on reducing spending considerably.

That being said, the company got a major lifeline recently after it emerged that it secured $350 million from the government of Canada towards the settlement of COVID vaccine orders that had been forfeited previously. That is another factor that may have had a bearing on the surge in the Novavax stock on Monday. Additionally, analysts also provided a positive outlook for the company.

As per data published by CNN Money, the 12-month forecast for the Novavax stock from five analysts had a median target price of $15 a share. The highest target price was $41 a share, while the lowest was $9 a share. Six analysts who had been polled returned the consensus of buying the stock.