10 Firms End 2024 Stronger With Impressive Gains

5. Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Shares of Moderna closed the year on a strong note, rallying by 5.59 percent at $41.58 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting after analysts regarded the company’s valuation as “too cheap.”

Year-to-date price, however, marked a 63.04-percent nosedive from the $41.58 booked on January 2, 2024, as the company continued to face a slew of challenges with the continuous lower demand for Covid-19 vaccines.

Earlier last year, the vaccine maker announced plans to slash its research and development budget to conserve cash for product launches, but after a year of consistent stock price decline, analysts remained skeptical.

In other news, the company announced strengthening its partnership with Merck to purchase $50 million of Personalis common stock, which covers a multi-year extension with Moderna to utilize Personalis’ ImmunoID NeXT Platform and technology for V940/mRNA-4157, an investigational individualized neoantigen therapy that both firms are developing.