The chief executive officers of both Moderna (MRNA 1.55%) and Pfizer (PFE 1.02%) have recently predicted that the pandemic could end by the end of 2022. In this Motley Fool Live video recorded on Sept. 29, 2021, Motley Fool contributors Keith Speights and Brian Orelli discuss two stocks to consider if the vaccine makers' CEOs are right.
Keith Speights: Last week, Moderna's CEO, Stéphane Bancel indicated that he thought the pandemic could end with life returning to normal in the second half of next year. Then over the weekend, Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla, made a very similar statement in an interview.
First of all, Brian, do you think these CEOs are right? Then second, what are some stocks that investors could buy now, that could be good picks if Bancel and Bourla are correct with their predictions?
Brian Orelli: I think they probably are correct. I think as we get more and more people vaccinated, and/or more and more people get infected and therefore get at least some protection from COVID-19 that way, I think the vaccines definitely give you higher antibody levels than getting infected.
I wouldn't recommend going and getting infected just as a way to immunize yourself. I would suggest you go and get vaccinated regardless of whether you've had it in the past. But I think as more and more people get that, we'll get closer to herd immunity and then that will knock down the ability of the virus to get transferred.
That's ultimately what a pandemic is. Is that the virus is in one person and then it spreads to more than one person. As long as it's spreading to more than one person, you're going to have a continually increasing amount of people that are infected. The average person infects less than one other person because they are around other people who are vaccinated, then the number of infection is going down in the pandemic. I think we're going to get to there at that point.
I think both of their predictions are correct. In terms of what stocks will benefit the most, maybe the easy answer would be movie theaters or amusement parks. But this is a healthcare show and I don't follow those and I really have no idea whether they are already fully recovered and taken into account that pandemic is going to end. But I'll throw out two healthcare companies.
InMode (INMD +6.11%) would be one. The company makes devices that remove fat and tighten your skin. They have some other products, they treat actual diseases. But the aesthetics businesses is really important, InMode and it should get a big boost as people feel more comfortable going out.
Then another company is SeaSpine (SPNE +0.00%), ticker there is SPNE. The company makes devices for the spine as you might imagine. The company noted this month that COVID-19 and staffing shortages have caused issues with spine surgery procedure volume. If COVID-19 goes away and they're able to be fully staffed, these spine surgery places will be able to do more spine surgeries and use more SeaSpine products and that should help SeaSpine substantially.
