Is it too late to enter this millionaire stock?

Millions have been made this year by investors betting on stocks of coronavirus vaccines at the start of the pandemic – or even earlier. Some players in clinical-stage biotechnology have offered enticing entry points. I’m talking about stock prices below $ 20. And, with work in this new area, these companies also offered great earning potential.

A perfect example is Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX). Shares of the biotech company were trading at around $ 4 in early January and have since climbed more than 2,000%. In fact, if you had invested $ 25,000 back then, your stake would have been worth over $ 1 million at the top of the stock in August. Now the question is whether an investment in Novavax today could still bundle you up – or if it’s too late. We will take a look.

I’ll start by saying that Novavax is not a leader in the coronavirus race. Other rivals, including Modern (NASDAQ: ARNM) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), are more advanced in terms of chronology. Pfizer, for example, last week applied for emergency use authorization (EUA) for its investigational vaccine. And Moderna is right behind. Novavax, however, began its Phase 3 trial in September and said initial data will be available at the start of the first trimester.

A future leader

So, now you might think that the potential for stock gains is a thing of the past. Not necessarily. Three important things could make Novavax a potential leader in coronavirus vaccines – and drive market performance along the way.

I’m going to talk about two of these at the same time, because they both have to do with logistics. These are storage and capacity. The Novavax vaccine can be stored between 35 degrees and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. These are the standard refrigerator temperatures. This means that the potential product does not require the expense or logistical headache of investing in special equipment to transport and store it. This gives Novavax an advantage over Pfizer. The drugstore vaccine candidate should be kept at a negative temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

Regarding capacity, Novavax claims to have the capacity to produce up to 2 billion doses by the middle of next year. Sole pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN), with a projected capacity of 3 billion, exceeds this level. So we can say that Novavax is the biotechnology company with the highest capacity to date. This is an important factor. Since vaccines are not sold at high prices, most revenue growth will come from volume.

A millionaire again

And finally, for the factor that could turn Novavax into a millionaire stock once again … Novavax plans to work on a combined influenza / COVID-19 vaccine. The company already has the expertise to do this. Its investigational influenza vaccine, NanoFlu, earlier this year met all major endpoints in a Phase 3 trial. The next step is regulatory submission.

Now, Novavax says it will also study the combination of NanoFlu and the coronavirus vaccine candidate it is studying in Phase 3 studies. This combination could be a game-changer – a two-in-one vaccine would mean less expense and streamlined transport and storage for business and healthcare providers. It would also be a popular choice for patients; few of us like multiple jabs.

Is It Too Late To Buy That Millionaire Stock? I don’t expect another 2,000% gain in less than a year. Perhaps that is too much to ask of one stock.

But, for the above reasons, Novavax still offers long-term investors considerable potential. A return to the stock’s August high would represent a 98% gain from today’s price. Wall Street is even more optimistic. The 12 month average price target implies an increase of 116% from today. And if Novavax’s plan for a combined influenza / COVID-19 vaccine pays off, the sky could be the limit for this biotech stockpile.