Biontech surges in premarket after better Q1 results

Shares of Biontech (BNTX.US), which together with Pfizer (PFE.US) developed revolutionary mRNA vaccines during the pandemic, are gaining 5% as its Q1 report beat Wall Street analysts' estimates. The company exceeded expectations in both revenue and earnings. Of course, on a year-over-year basis, results deteriorated significantly but not at the scale and pace estimated by Wall Street. Recently, analysts were also positively surprised by Moderna's (MRNA.US) reports. Have investors been 'too brutal' for vaccine makers?

Revenues: €1.28 billion vs. €1.12 billion forecasts

Earnings per share (EPS): EUR 2.05 vs. EUR 0.69 forecasts

Operating profit: €654 million vs. 231.8 million forecasts

• The company reiterated its forecast of €5 billion in revenue through covid vaccines, and maintained its forecast of R&D spending between €2.4 billion and €2.6 billion in 2023;
• It wants to expand its line of vaccines against infectious diseases by starting the clinical phase for the first mRNA-based vaccine against tuberculosis;
• Biontech is also focusing on the development of more, next-generation products ahead of the fall and winter seasons. Together with OncoC4, it plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the anti CTLA-4 antibody BNT316 (ONC-392) in patients with NSCLC;
• The company plans to introduce a new class of precision therapies to its oncology portfolio. It will also present clinical data of BNT316 (ONC-392), ADC candidate BNT323 (DB-1303) and CAR-T candidate BNT211 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in 2023;
• Biontech now wants to focus primarily on treating cancer and infectious diseases but the company's CEO, Ugur Sahin, signaled that Biontech is ready to continue developing vaccines against covid;
• Both Biontech and Moderna have a small amount of debt 'fueling' the business, and the huge amount of cash accumulated during the vaccine boom may favor higher spending on R&D (technological and possibly quality advances) and enlarging the advantage over smaller competitors.

Biontech (BNTX.US) shares, D1 interval. Shares have fallen nearly 80% from peak valuations near $500, in 2021. The company is now trading roughly 200% above its March 2020 price. Source: xStation5