A reorganization can mean many things to a company. It can mean a fresh start, or if you believe “Dilbert” strips, a great way to bury the bodies or excuse away poor performance for an entire division. For biotech stock Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), it meant a 5% drop in share prices as investors started to openly panic as a result of its internal deck-shuffling.
The deck-shuffling in question is focused on trying to light a fire under Spikevax, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Further, Moderna is also looking at the launch of a new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in 2024, which will also be a point of focus. To that end, Moderna’s CEO, Stephane Bancel, will now have sales and marketing authority as well, working directly with the commercial team. Further, Moderna will also be down a person as Arpa Garay—the chief commercial officer—will be set to depart Moderna.
COVID-19 Sales Continue to Decline
Thankfully, there are some other new drugs in the pipeline for Moderna. It’s working on cancer vaccines and other combination cancer treatments, as well as treatments for other infectious diseases. While it made fortunes on the strength of its COVID-19 vaccine sales, those sales have been on the drop in recent years as concerns about efficacy and safety grow. Further, considering the mild impact that some strains of COVID-19 have had lately, others question if there’s even a point in getting vaccinated to begin with.
While a CEO needs to be versed in every part of a company, sales and marketing is a highly specialized role. Pulling the CEO into sales and marketing might take needed focus off other aspects of corporate management and leave Moderna weaker as a result.
What is the Target Price for Moderna Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on MRNA stock based on seven Buys, seven Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 60.6% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MRNA price target of $118.27 per share implies 51.94% upside potential.
