The year has seen its fair share of ups and downs in the ever-changing stock market. Currently, the stock market faces headwinds from rising interest rates and the subsequent increase in bond yields. Nonetheless, there are grounds for optimism.
Quarter four is typically the strongest quarter of the year for US equities, and investment bank Goldman Sachs is steadfast in its earlier year-end price target of 4,500 for the S&P 500.
As a consequence of modest EPS growth and a roughly flat multiple, the firm’s head of investment strategy, David Kostin, maintains that the index will reach 4500 by the end of the year. A rise to 4,500, based on current levels, will result in a 5% increase for the S&P.
The bank’s stock analysts adhere to this theory by selecting equities that they believe are poised for substantial gains. In some instances, their recommendations include securities with the potential to double investors’ capital. That’s a substantial gain by any measure, and the Goldman analysts have explained why some of their candidates may experience such a significant increase. Let’s examine more closely.
The stock ticker symbol for Moderna, Inc.
We will begin with Moderna, a biotechnology company that peruses mRNA vaccine technology. You may recall mRNA vaccines from the recent pandemic; it was the technology used to create the effective COVID vaccines, and Moderna was one of the first companies to market one. Moderna is, however, much more than that; the company has an extensive portfolio of vaccines in the development or commercialization phases. The company’s 48 pipeline initiatives include influenza and RSV vaccines, Lyme disease treatments, and even cancer treatments.
For investors, the most pertinent parts of Moderna’s pipeline concern the subsequent COVID vaccine iterations. These are being developed to combat new strains of the virus, which shows signs of becoming an endemic seasonal virus in human populations, similar to the numerous influenza strains. In fact, Moderna’s most recent COVID vaccine research aims to combine the vaccines with influenza vaccines so that patients can receive a single injection each season.
