Investors once saw Moderna's coronavirus vaccine as a reason to buy the stock, but in recent times, they've seen it as a reason to sell. That's because they've worried about the company's dependence on just one product -- especially a product linked to a pandemic situation.
But here's why we should view Moderna differently. First, even though vaccine demand has declined, it's not going to zero. Moderna has predicted the coronavirus vaccine market will follow that of the flu vaccine market, and if that happens, about half of Americans will go for an annual shot. That should result in recurrent blockbuster revenue for Moderna.
And there's an even bigger reason to be optimistic about Moderna right now. As mentioned above, the company plans on launching up to 15 products in the coming five years. What does this mean financially? Moderna predicts these new products could result in as much as $30 billion in revenue. This well surpasses its coronavirus peak sales of $18.4 billion.
The risk of candidate failure always is possible in the world of biotech and pharma, but even if Moderna succeeds with only a handful of these investigational products, the company's earnings could take off. Meanwhile, Moderna also has been investing in artificial intelligence (AI), a tool that could help its product development become faster and more precise.
Today, Moderna shares trade for about 8.5 times forward earnings estimates, dirt cheap considering the company's future earnings opportunities. And that's why this biotech player is a screaming buy.
