BioNTech, Novavax, Moderna shares and Co. in focus: So much vaccine has already been delivered to Germany

shares in this article

Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer supplied the most vaccines in Europe and the US

The global vaccination campaign caused a rain of money for the manufacturers – and their shareholders

Vaccine maker stocks vary in risk

According to information from the Federal Ministry of Health, a total of 206.7 million vaccine doses were delivered to vaccination centers, mobile vaccination teams, medical practices, company doctors and pharmacies in Germany by July 24, 2022. Of these deliveries, 88.9 percent were vaccinated, so that 76.2 percent of the German population (63.4 million people) are basic immunized, i.e. have received at least two vaccinations or one vaccine dose from Johnson & Johnson. In addition, 61.8 percent of the German population (51.4 million people) have received at least one further booster vaccination. From an investor’s point of view, the breakdown of these figures according to the respective manufacturers should be particularly interesting.

Which vaccines dominate in Germany

The absolute majority of the 206.7 million vaccine doses delivered to Germany were manufactured by the Mainz-based company BioNTech in cooperation with the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer: A total of 72.03 percent, i.e. 148.9 million vaccine doses, come from the production facilities of BioNTech and Pfizer .

Moderna follows at a great distance. The US group is responsible for the delivery of 36.3 million vaccine doses (17.56 percent). It is followed by AstraZeneca with 14.4 million (6.97 percent), Johnson & Johnson with 5.4 million (2.61 percent) and in last place Novavax with 1.7 million vaccine doses (0.82 percent). A similar distribution of vaccines by manufacturer is evident across the European Union, according to data from Our World in Data. In the USA, according to “Statista”, BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna have a quasi-duopoly: 59.1 percent of the 601 million vaccines delivered to the USA come from the production of BioNTech/Pfizer and 37.7 percent were manufactured by Moderna. However, these figures only represent an interim conclusion: In view of the continuing tense corona situation, the global vaccination campaign is likely to pick up speed again in autumn, especially since health authorities around the world are now recommending a second or even third corona booster vaccination. Vaccine manufacturers could therefore continue to make high profits in the coming months.

Novavax, Moderna and BioNTech stocks: Far from record high

All six companies mentioned are publicly traded and, with the exception of AstraZeneca, which is listed in London, have ventured publicly in the USA. The vaccine manufacturers, who, along with digital companies, were considered the main beneficiaries of the corona pandemic, were able to look forward to lavish price increases at times. However, the price developments have very different characteristics.

Possibly the most speculative of these six stocks is Novavax. The Novavax protein vaccine, which unlike the mRNA vaccines is not gene-based, was only approved by the EU Commission on December 20, 2021. The development of the Novavax share has been volatile over the past few months, reflecting the unclear company situation. While the Novavax share was still below USD 7 in February 2020, it was able to rise to around USD 290 in 2021. In the meantime, however, the Novavax securities have come back significantly from this record high.

The shares of Moderna and BioNTech are also listed well below the record levels that have been reached in the meantime. The two companies are the best known and by far the most important manufacturers of the new mRNA vaccines, and the coverage of these two titles was correspondingly large. After BioNTech and Pfizer announced on November 18, 2020 that they had found an effective vaccine against the corona virus, BioNTech shares rose enormously. In 2021, the vaccination of the active substance brought a profit of more than ten billion euros into the coffers of the previously relatively small Mainz-based company, whose shares reached a record high of 464 US dollars at the height of the vaccination campaign in summer 2021 – before falling to a level by June 2022 from below $125. Moderna’s shares also reached previously unimagined heights of more than $400 in August 2021, but in June the shares cost less than $120 at one point. After all, both companies are valued many times higher than before the corona pandemic. In addition, BioNTech in particular is working flat out on other promising biotech innovations that go beyond vaccines and could continue to bring high profits for the company around CEO Ugur Sahin.

Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca: Traditional groups with a wide range of products

In contrast, the other three vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are older and more capital-intensive corporations. These long-established drug companies have a significantly larger production of other drugs, which is why the stocks are considered less speculative. All the more stable and constant is the positive price development that characterizes the papers from AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The shares of the Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have basically been in a constant upward trend for about ten years, which was accelerated again by the additional vaccine bonanza. The shareholders of Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, both of which are among the 30 companies in the traditional American index Dow Jones Industrial Average, have also been able to look forward to constant price gains including stable dividend payments for years. The balance sheets of these three companies are likely to be less dependent on vaccine revenues in the coming years, the dimensions of which are extremely uncertain given the great uncertainty regarding the further course of the pandemic.

Editorial office finanzen.net

Image sources: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, Ascannio / Shutterstock.com