BioNTech, Meta Materials, Bayer: Rich with innovations

BioNTech: Jumping on a moving train

BioNTech's stock is undoubtedly a high-flyer. In the last three months alone, the share price has risen by more than 50%. The reasons are manifold: vaccines for children and booster vaccines for adults are coming soon and will flush the Company with new funds. In addition, the mRNA process, for which BioNTech is known along with the likes of Moderna and CureVac, has enormous potential. When the process was first researched, Hungarian researcher Katalin Karikó was thinking of curing diseases such as cancer. Vaccines were not first on her mind. But today, we can see just how great the potential is. In no time at all, she successfully produced a very effective vaccine, robust against several mutations.

With this experience and the attention of funders and governments, it should be easy for BioNTech to initiate new projects successfully. While the stock is not one of the unknown innovators, BioNTech looks back on a track record and has further potential due to its versatile mRNA technology. However, anyone who gets on board now is entering a moving train.

Meta Materials: The tech revolution for almost every industry

The situation is a little different at Meta Materials. Here, the train started moving at top speed in the summer - but drove in circles. In the meantime, investors are finding exciting price levels again. Meta Materials focuses on extremely thin coatings that have optical, physical or magnetic properties that do not exist in this form in nature. Metamaterials can be used to direct light around particular objects by changing the refractive index of light into the negative. Military vehicles, for example, could be camouflaged in this way. But many other areas could also be disrupted by ultrathin coatings. Examples include nearly invisible mobile phone antennas in window panes, data glasses and the latest generation of overhead displays.

Meta Materials has made it its mission to mass-produce these materials and significantly reduce costs. The Company has been researching this for the past ten years and has filed numerous patents itself. Now it sees itself on the home stretch and invites other engineers and scientists to help Meta Materials achieve a breakthrough. Since the principle of small devices and solutions in everyday objects promises innovations in numerous industries, the stock is an attractive bet on the future. As a first mover, Meta Materials, listed on the US tech exchange Nasdaq, is likely to get a big piece of the pie if it succeeds.

Bayer: Yesterday's innovations, today's success

The case of Bayer shows how long innovations at the right time can determine the fortunes of corporations. In 1899, the Company registered Aspirin as a trademark with the Imperial Patent Office - and the rest is history. Even today, people with a cold or hangover reach for the well-known brand-name product and keep Bayer's coffers ringing. Of course, today, Bayer is much more than just Aspirin: just over 50% of the Company's sales are in the fields of pharmaceuticals and health care. The rest is accounted for by seeds and other products. However, what is certain is that it is the innovations of the past on which the Company has been able to build.

Today, Bayer is the market leader in many areas, has presented good figures in recent quarters and is not particularly expensive. Bayer may not have any breakthroughs in the pipeline, but the Rhineland Company is certainly innovative in its new seed products. On top of that, investors can look forward to a dividend yield of around 3.5%. The stock is a solid choice but not an innovator in the classic sense.

While conservative investors make a solid choice in Bayer to sleep soundly, things could be more turbulent at BioNTech. Even the Mainz-based Company, which is used to success, could miss the mark one day, just like its Tübingen-based colleagues from CureVac. In such a case, the fall height would be high. The situation is different at Meta Materials. The technology is capable of turning all industries upside down. Nevertheless, the share of Meta Materials is still comparatively in its infancy and, despite its progressing success, is significantly cheaper today than it was a few months ago.