The company has delivered only a small portion of what it promised for the year
Novavax, Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) is plummeting this morning, down 14% to trade at $81.56 at last check, on news that the company has only delivered 10 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, after promising to send 2 billion around the world this year. The company said it is moving as quickly as possible, with spokesperson Amy Speak noting some shipments have been held up due to regulatory processes.
Underperforming on the charts so far this year, NVAX last week marked its first and only weekly win since mid-December. The equity is down 42.6% year-to-date, and today seems to be moving back below familiar pressure at the 10-day moving average, after last week's brief stint above it.
The equity looks ripe for bear notes. Of the six analysts in coverage, four carry a "strong buy" rating. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $250 is a 205.5% premium to current levels.
It's also worth noting that short interest makes up 12.8% of the stock's available float. Amid this negative price action, NVAX has landed on the Short Sale Restricted (SSR) list today.
Options bears are blasting the equity. So far, 8,477 puts have crossed the tape, which is double the volume that is typically seen at this point. Most popular is the 2/11 80-strike put, followed by the 85-strike put in the same weekly series, with positions being opened at both.