Valneva, XPhyto, Peloton Interactive: What is next for pandemic stocks?

Valneva: What is the outlook for the hopeful Company?

The Valneva share has recently lost ground. The European inactivated vaccine was eagerly awaited by many market participants in recent months. In the meantime, however, the air around the hopeful vaccine of many vaccination critics is out. The approval process for the French manufacturer's vaccine is currently underway within the EU. The vaccine may be approved before the end of the first quarter. Participants in the ongoing Phase III trial are already receiving the vaccine as a booster, but these data will no longer be included in the approval process in the short term. However, the data are not lost and could play a role in further approval procedures.

A few days ago, it became known that Valneva's vaccine candidate probably also helps against the Omicron variant. However, the Company will not put its PS on the road until it is also approved. Since the proportion of unvaccinated people in Germany is still high, there is still sales potential for Valneva. In a market phase in which Corona profiteers are being punished across the board, the shares of the vaccine laggard are not the first choice.

XPhyto: PCR-quality rapid tests gain in importance

Another laggard is the share of the biotech XPhyto - at least as far as the share price is concerned, the value has hardly profited recently. Yet XPhyto offers precisely what could help in the current phase of the pandemic: Rapid PCR tests that promise laboratory-quality results within 25 minutes - and completely independent of location. In addition, XPhyto's Diagnostics business offers products to combat oral diseases and is researching innovative dosage forms. In this business area, the aim is to enable certain active ingredients to be better absorbed by the body if they are administered in the form of patches instead of tablets, for example. These approaches can, for example, ensure that the overall dose can be increased, which can, for example, reduce susceptibility to side effects. As a third pillar, XPhyto offers psychedelics for use against mental illness. Research of this kind is quite normal in the US but is viewed critically in Europe because some of the active ingredients are also considered narcotics.

The share has lost ground in recent weeks, probably because PCR tests are now to be rationed in Germany. However, it remains to be seen to what extent these requirements can be implemented in practice. Since rapid tests are still considered unreliable, and experts warn of new virus variants, the pandemic is not yet over on the stock market. XPhyto's stock remains interesting, above all, because there are also countries where PCR tests have long been the gold standard, such as Austria. The research portal researchanalyst.com took a closer look at XPhyto a few months ago.

Peloton: Now this too!

A pandemic stock of the first hour is Peloton Interactive. When the epidemic was still comparatively young, Corona felt like a big "challenge" to many people. Resign and get fat or get through it was the name of the game. Many self-optimizers learned languages, an instrument or swung onto a spinning bike in the first few weeks. Peloton offers such a bike, including motivation from experienced trainers via stream. But recently, the stock dropped like a stone. Peloton's existing users also appear pandemic-weary. To make matters worse, a series character from "Sex and the City" has now "died" after a Peloton workout - purely fictitiously, of course. But this example shows that product placement can backfire. Peloton's stock is not very interesting at the moment. Spring is just around the corner in the northern hemisphere. Those who want to do sports will soon be doing so outside again. Incidence or not.

While Peloton may have seen its highs, XPhyto and Valneva could go up again. The pandemic is not over yet, but it is changing its face. Speculative XPhyto, in particular, could react dynamically to new orders.