While still maintaining BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) at neutral, UBS has cut its price target to $170 from $300 (~9% upside based on yesterday's close).
Analyst Eliana Merle said that with BioNTech shares down ~40% year to date, "we think the recent move hints at a return to fundamentals after a highly volatile '21."
Another big question for the company is what COVID-19 will be like once it becomes endemic and how that will impact the market for vaccine boosters, she notes.
"Key swing factors include: the durability of long-term immunity, novel variants, severity of reinfection, competitor COVID-19 vaccines and long-term pricing," Merle writes. "We think the move to omicron specific vaccines is likely and will drive demand, though questions on whether further boosters beyond an omicron booster may follow," Merle writes.
She notes that the company's pipeline is also too early "to move the needle for shares in '22."