PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Novavax
Benzinga's PreMarket Prep airs every morning from 8-9 a.m. ET. During that fast-paced, highly informative hour, traders and investors tune in to get the major news of the day, the catalysts behind those moves and the corresponding price action for the upcoming session.
On any given day, the show will cover at least 20 stocks determined by co-hosts Joel Elconin and Dennis Dick along with producer Spencer Israel.
For those who don't have the time to tune in live or listen to the podcast, Benzinga will highlight one stock that merits further discussion. This analysis is not a buy or sell recommendation.
After-hours and pre-market trading can be wicked. Case in point, the trading action in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), which is the PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day.
Quite The Roundtrip: On most occasions, issues that go from $300 to $3 over a period of four years either go to $0 or mount some kind of a meaningless comeback. In the case of Novavax, it's clearly on the comeback trail.
In August 2015, its share price was in full parabolic mode, reaching $300.20 after ending 2014 at $118.60. Going back to early 2012, it was higher by over 1,000% since its February 2012 close of $25.20.
What Happened? At that time, Novavax was a clinical-stage biotech company that focused on the development of vaccines for the treatment of respiratory syntactical virus and several other global infectious diseases.
After peaking in August, the issue began to drift lower and it was clear the company’s fate would be linked to the results of upcoming results of the RESOLVE trial. With no forthcoming positive news, the issue began to relinquish much of its earlier gains.
The Final Blow: After the close on Sept. 15, 2016, it cratered $166.80 to $25.80 in the following session, following an announcement of disappointing top-line data from its RESOLVE trail. That data failed to impress and investors were more than willing to hit the exit button.
Left For Dead Until November 2019: Over the course of the next few years, the issue worked its way down to $3.54 and ended the year not far off that level. It began to gain momentum early in 2020, when the company announced it was venturing in the COVID-19 vaccine arena.
Since that time a series of positive announcements regarding its vaccine trials has sent its share price into orbit. The stock ended Tuesday’s session at $157.17.
Oops! After the close on Tuesday, Stat News incorrectly reported eight patients in the 130-person trial had experienced severe side effects. That news sent the algos on a selling frenzy, which took the issue all the way to $103 in the after-hours session.
Once the story was corrected, the issue sharply revered course rallied to end the after-hours session at $171. The rally continued in the pre-market session, nearly reaching $200 but coming up shy at $198.50.
Price Action When Covered On The Show: When the wacky events behind the price action were being discussed on the show, it was trading at $193.50, with the high already in place at $198.50. The author of this article cautioned investors that if the issue was unable to breach the pre-market high and clime over $200, it may fall prey to profit-taking.
Price Action Off The Open: After a higher open at $182, it made a quick dash to $189.40 and sharply reversed course. The ensuing decline took the issue to $170.75 and it rebounded back into the mid $170 handle as of 12:00 p.m. EST.
Moving Forward: If the vaccine trials continue to have positive results, then it's impossible to predict how high the issue can go. If the trials take a negative turn or another company beats them to the punch, look out below as it may react the same way it did previously.
The full discussion on the issue from today’s show can be found:
See more from Benzinga
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
