BioNtech shares spike on strong q4

The news shaping the markets today

Russia announced a ceasefire in Mariupol on Thursday to evacuate civilians. Brent crude declined more than 5% on the news.

South Korea’s industrial production grew 6.5% year-over-year in February, following a revised 4.2% increase a month ago, lending support to the KRW/USD forex pair.

Russia’s unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.1% in February, from 4.4% in the prior month. However, the RUB/USD pair remained flat in forex trading this morning.

US crude oil inventories declined by 3.449 million barrels in the week ending March 25, marking the steepest decline in the past seven weeks. Despite this, WTI crude oil futures lost more than 6% this morning on hopes of an end to the Ukraine crisis.

Mexico’s unemployment rate eased to 3.7% in February, from 4.4 % in the year-ago month. However, the latest reading was higher than market expectations of 3.6% and exerted pressure on the MXN/USD forex pair.

What’s happening: Shares of BioNTech SE gained on Wednesday, after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter.

What happened: BioNTech, the biotech firm that partnered with Pfizer for the covid-19 vaccine, delivered billions of doses last year.

The company also announced a massive share buyback authorisation.

How were the results: The Mainz, Germany-based company reported strong growth in both sales and earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter.

• Sales soared more than more than 1,501% year-on year to around €5.53 billion.
• Net profits expanded almost 800% to nearly €3.2 billion, versus €367 million in the same quarter in 2020.
• Earnings per share rose to €12.18 per share, from $1.43 a year ago, significantly beating expectations.

Why it matters:

BioNTech has expanded its clinical trial programme for developing new covid-19 vaccines to provide better protection against the Omicron strain.

The US FDA recently announced the authorisation of a second booster shot of the company’s covid-19 vaccine for older adults and immunocompromised individuals.

BioNTech, along its partner Pfizer, delivered about 2.6 billion doses of their Comirnaty/BNT162b2 around the world last year, which included more than 1 billion doses to the low- and middle-income nations.

As of mid-March 2022, both companies had signed orders for around 2.4 billion doses for 2022.

Following strong earnings in 2021, BioNTech is looking to spend between €1.4 billion and €1.5 billion on R&D this year, which represents a 50% surge over last year’s spending level.

BioNTech said it expects to repurchase ADS shares worth up to $1.5 billion over the next two years and proposed a €2.00 per share special cash dividend. Management guided to covid-19 vaccine sales of between $14.5 billion and $18.9 billion for 2022.

How shares responded: BioNTech’s shares gained 1.4% to close at $174.78 on Wednesday, following the release of quarterly results. The stock has lost around 25% year to date.

What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on rising covid-19 cases in China, Europe and other regions around the world and any news of the authorisations of BioNTech’s other covid-19 doses.

The markets today

The British pound will be in focus today ahead of a couple of economic reports from the country

Context: The sterling recorded gains against the US dollar, but moved lower versus the euro on Wednesday.

Details: On Tuesday, Russia announced plans to scale back its military operations near the Ukrainian city of Kyiv. However, Russia’s forces bombarded those cities just a day after it pledged to scale down its operations.

The British Retail Consortium reported that major retailers had increased their prices by 2.1% during March, representing the fastest annualised rise since September 2011 and the fifth monthly rise in a row.

Despite these concerns, the GBP/USD was supported by expectations of further rate hikes by the Bank of England in the months ahead. Money markets expect the central bank to boost rates by another 139 basis points by the end of the year.

The GBP/USD forex pair gained around 0.3% to close at $1.3135 on Wednesday. Against the euro, the sterling fell around 0.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.55% to close at 7,578.75 on Wednesday, recording gains for the second straight session.

What to watch:

Traders await the release of data on UK’s current account and GDP growth today. The current account deficit, which widened sharply to £24.4 billion in the third quarter, is expected to shrink to £17.6 billion in the fourth quarter. The British economy is projected to grow 6.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, following a 7% expansion in the prior period.

Other Markets: US indices closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down by 0.19%, 0.63% and 1.10%, respectively.

Support & resistances for today

Market snapshot

What else to watch today

Germany’s retail sales, unemployment rate and number of unemployed persons, UK’s business investment, France’s consumer price inflation rate, household spending and producer prices, Turkey’s balance of trade and foreign exchange reserves, Italy’s unemployment rate and inflation rate, Spain’s current account, Eurozone’s unemployment rate, South Africa’s producer prices change, balance of trade and SACCI business confidence index, India’s Central government budget value, infrastructure output, external debt and current account, Canada’s CFIB’s business barometer long-term index and GDP growth rate, US Challenger job cuts, personal spending, personal income, personal consumption expenditure price index, initial jobless claims, continuing jobless claims, Chicago PMI and natural gas stocks change, Brazil’s unemployment rate, government budget value and value of loans, Russia’s money supply M2, Argentina’s consumer confidence indicator, as well as Mexico’s government budget value.