Maravai cut at Morgan Stanley; Pfizer/BioNTech headwinds cited

Morgan Stanley downgraded Maravai LifeSciences Holdings (NASDAQ:MRVI) to Equal Weight from Overweight on Tuesday, citing, among other things, a potential impact from headwinds faced by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) for their COVID vaccine.

San Diego, California-based Maravai (MRVI), which provides technology for mRNA vaccine manufacturing, generated more than 60% of its revenue from Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) in 2022.

The duo’s mRNA-based shot, Comirnaty, is expected to generate $5B in revenue in 2024, Pfizer (PFE) announced with its recent Q2 financials recently indicating ~ a 55% YoY drop from a year ago.

“We see y/y headwinds from PFE/BNTX vaccine weighing on numbers near-term,” Morgan Stanley analyst Tejas Savant wrote on MRVI as he detailed reasons for the downgrade.

Despite trimming his price target to $10 from $11, Tejas pointed to the company’s long-term prospects. “We continue to see MRVI well positioned to benefit from a ramp in growing mRNA candidates in the pipeline, supporting long-term uptake,” he added.

The downgrade comes days after Maravai (MRVI) reported its Q2 2024 financials, which has prompted Savant to see a balanced risk-reward setup for the stock subject to an improved macro setup.