Moderna downgraded at BMO as 'corona catalysts built in'

• Moderna (MRNA -5.5%) shares shed a bit of yesterday's run-up to a record high, as BMO Capital's George Farmer backs away from the stock's 400% 52-week surge and recommends taking profits, downgrading to Market Perform from Outperform with a $109 price target.
• Farmer had been bullish on the stock, expecting the company's COVID-19 vaccine would match or exceed Pfizer's 90% effective rate; yesterday, the company reported a vaccine efficacy of 94.5% in a phase 3 study protocol.
• But the analyst now sees limited upside following yesterday's rally on the positive vaccine outcome, and the current stock price mostly reflects a "near-term best-case scenario," including expectations for emergency use authorization before year-end and a full approval mid-2021.
• "Although we recommend taking some profits... the now proven potential of MRNA's RNA/LNP platform establishes the company as a new vaccine development powerhouse," Farmer writes.
• Today's decline would snap a four-day surge that has seen the stock surge by 30%.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3637145-moderna-downgraded-bmo-corona-catalysts-built-in