BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $92.75, but opened at $109.29. BioNTech shares last traded at $115.4230, with a volume of 2,410,449 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $142.00 target price on BioNTech in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded BioNTech from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BioNTech from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective on shares of BioNTech from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.81.

BioNTech Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 7.85 and a quick ratio of 7.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of -14.21 and a beta of 1.27.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.40) by ($0.13). BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 6.86% and a negative net margin of 63.54%.The business had revenue of $166.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.60) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 59.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 EPS for the current year.

BioNTech declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in BioNTech in the second quarter worth about $207,142,000. GSK plc purchased a new position in BioNTech during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,711,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of BioNTech by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,578,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,235,000 after purchasing an additional 474,796 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 116.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 839,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,658,000 after purchasing an additional 451,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in BioNTech by 344.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 573,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,544,000 after buying an additional 444,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.52% of the company’s stock.

BioNTech Company Profile

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) is a Germany-based biotechnology company that develops next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines, with a primary focus on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Mainz, BioNTech advances a platform approach to design and manufacture therapeutics across oncology, infectious diseases and other high unmet-need areas. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange and became widely known for its rapid development and global deployment of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer.

BioNTech’s core activities include discovery research, clinical development and manufacturing of mRNA-based medicines, personalized cancer immunotherapies, engineered cell therapies, and antibody- and protein-based therapeutics.