Category: Coronavirus

The COVID-19 Vaccine Stocks

by Fred Fuld III

Based on data as of April 28 from the CDC, over 142 million Americans have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and more than 90 million have been fully vaccinated. This amounts to about 68% of those over 65, 38% of those over 18, and approximately 30% of the U. S. population.

The big players in the coronavirus vaccine arena are Pfizer (PFE) which is in partnership with BioNTech (BNTX), Moderna (MRNA), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and AstraZeneca (AZN). Of course, there are a lot of smaller biotech companies involved in COVID-19 testing, treatment, and cures.

The first vaccine, a two-dose variety, was created by the Pfizer and BioNTech joint venture. Pfizer, with a market cap of $215 billion,trades at 22.6 times trailing earnings and 12 times forward earnings. It pays a generous yield of 4.04%. The company raised its dividend by 2.6% in January of this year, and has raised its dividend every year for over ten years.

BioNTech is a German based biotechnology company with a market cap of $46 billion. Trailing earnings have been negative, but the forward price to earnings ratio is 19.7. The stock does not pay a dividend.

Moderna was close on their heels with its own two-dose vaccine. This $70 billion company has a forward P/E ratio of 8.7 and has no dividends.

Johnson & Johnson subsequently released a one-dose vaccine, however, health issues were raised about the vaccine relating to blood clots affecting a very small number of people, plus there was a contamination issue relating to blood clots. J&J trades at 29 times trailing earnings and 17 times forward earnings. The dividend yield is a healthy 2.62%. The company recently announced a 4.95% increase in the dividend payout beginning in June.

Finally, the British company AstraZeneca has a vaccine but it is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For far, its vaccine has brought in $275 million in sales. The company has a market cap of $135 billion, a trailing P/E ratio of 42 and a forward P/E ratio of 21. The forward annual dividend yield is 2.7%. The dividend is paid semi-annually.

Maybe one of these stocks can protect your portfolio.

 

Disclosure: Author owns PFE.

 

Need a Face Mask? Here’s One for $1.5 Million

If you need one more coronavirus face mask, there is one being made by the Israeli jewelry company Yvel that is selling for $1.5 million.

This one-of-a-kind mask is being made with 18 karat gold and adorned with 3,600 black and white diamonds.

It will be made to the specification of N-99 filtering.

The man is being made at the request of a businessman in the United States, who wants it completed by the end of the year and wants it to be the most expensive mask ever.

My Concerns About the Coronavirus

by Fred Fuld III

Your email account has probably been pelted with COVID-19 letters from every company you have ever done business with, or for that matter, every company you have ever interacted with. They all say the same thing, “extraordinary times,” “crazy times,” “historic challenges,” “our commitment to you,” etc. Plus they all tell you to wash your hands. I think we all get the picture.

However, for the next several months and possibly the next couple years, there will be a new normal. I am concerned about some short term and medium term risks associated with the coronavirus, not just economic risks but societal risks. Here they are:

No Immunity

With everyone sheltering in place, and not interacting with anyone else, individuals won’t be exposing themselves to viruses and bacteria that they usually would under normal circumstances. This would prevent them from building up immunity to infectious agents, making them more susceptible to illness during the flu season this fall. 

Baby Boom

In nine months, there will be a baby boom caused by the quarantining at home. This means that hospitals will be flooded with pregnant women during the December and January time frame, right during the peak of the influenza period. Will there be enough hospital beds? I realize that there can be more births at home and birthing centers but there will always be a need for hospitals to handle the C-section and difficult births.

Relapse

Will there be a relapse for those who  caught the coronavirus? According to a recent article in Newsweek dated April 13, South Korea is seeing a rise in ‘Reactivated’ Coronavirus patients.

Restaurants

How willing will people be to go out to eat at restaurants again? How long will social distancing in restaurants last even after the quarantine is over? Will restaurants reduce their number of tables by 50% and sit people at every other booth, thereby reducing their capacity and revenues?

Bankruptcies

Once one major company declares bankruptcy, such as a retailer or a cruise line, will it create a snowball effect? Will these corporations go bankrupt AFTER they receive the bailout money?

Inflation

The U.S. national debt is now over $24 trillion. The Federal Reserve Board has flooded the economy with trillions of dollars recently. Will the U.S. eventually have runaway inflation like Zimbabwe?

Nosebleed P/E Ratios

Price to earnings ratios are trading at extremely high levels, and infinite levels in some cases. The stock market can still go higher, but with many stocks trading at such inflated prices, not even taking into consideration the reduction in earnings during March and April, the market is due for a downturn.

Beneficiaries

Of course, there will be a few companies and their employees that will benefit from this pandemic. The corporations that provide online shopping, online entertainment, and online meeting and video conferencing will be the big beneficiaries.

Stay healthy everyone.