Moderna (MRNA 1.89%) shares have soared over the past year. Investors bet on the company's ability to bring a vaccine to market -- and then make billions of dollars in revenue. In this Motley Fool Live video recorded on May 28, 2021, Healthcare and Cannabis Bureau Editor and Analyst Olivia Zitkus and Fool.com contributor Adria Cimino discuss Moderna's valuation and whether there is still room for the biotech stock to gain over the long term.
Olivia Zitkus: My last Moderna specific question for you, just to know where it's trading right now, do you think it's run up a lot over the past year? Do you think it's looking a little too expensive or maybe cheap given its potential? I've seen lots of people on both sides of that spectrum, so what's your thinking there?
Adria Cimino: I'm on the side where I say it's looking kind of like a bargain. The stock is up 180% over the past year, which seems like a whole lot, and it is. But we have to remember that it's trading at about seven times forward earnings estimates, and when we look at the vaccine and the possibility of the booster and the possibility that it's going to be expanded perhaps to kids and teens. Then we look at the pipeline, the cytomegalovirus vaccine candidate is about to enter a phase 3 pivotal trial later on this year, so that's a late-stage program. There are other things on the horizon. We look at all that for the idea of long-term investing, there is a lot down the road from Moderna, so I would say that right now still represents a good opportunity to get in on the stock.
