The race to be first to market with a COVID-19 vaccine is changing gears. As the companies developing vaccine/therapeutics move further down the development path, the commercial aspect is starting to take a more prominent part in the conversation.mRNA vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA) is one of the companies currently leading the pack, but it needs to be vigilant of rivals’ progress. Shares of Moderna hit a speed bump on Wednesday and trended downwards on account of positive developments in the progress of rivals Novavax (NVAX) and Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) respective COVID-19 vaccine programs.Novavax’ candidate NVX-CoV2373 performed well in a phase 1 study and drew positive responses from several Street analysts. While J&J’s pricing ($10 per dose in its deal with the U.S. government) might put pressure on Moderna to significantly reduce the $32 to $37 per dose price range its small volume deals have bought in so far for mRNA-1273, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.Nevertheless, so far, Moderna’s candidate is making its way smoothly through the clinical trial process.And that is where the key focus lies. Should the company report positive data from the recently initiated Phase 3 mRNA-1273 trial, then the rules of the game will change in its favor. This is a point picked by Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh. The 5-star analyst believes Moderna is well positioned to build on the several agreements it has already made to supply $400 million’s worth of the potential vaccine.Singh opined “As the global community now sets its sights on potential late-stage COVID-19 vaccine data over the coming quarters, a greater share of the conversation has shifted toward commercialization and pricing… While MRNA navigates vaccine supply agreements and a potential commercialization of mRNA-1273, we anticipate volatility in the shares to continue. Nonetheless, clinical updates from P2 and eventually P3, in parallel with a further clarified regulatory path to approval, position MRNA well over the coming 12-18 months, in our view.”Accordingly, Singh keeps his Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating as is, along with a $108 price target. What does it mean for investors? Upside potential of 47% from current levels. (To watch Singh’s track record, click here)The rest of the Street concurs. 12 Buy ratings and 3 Holds coalesce to a Strong Buy consensus rating. With an average price target of $92.54, the analysts forecast upside of 28% over the coming months. (See Moderna stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for healthcare stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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The most popular Robinhood stocks fall into two distinct categories that are very distinct.

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Let's talk about the popular General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD). The company's shares received a lot of attention…

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British based energy giant BP PLC (NYSE:BP) cut dividends by 50% to 31.50 cents/share for each American Depository Receipt ( minus any ADR fees). This was the first dividend cut for BP since 2010, when it had a costly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP Follows Royal Dutch Shell And Cuts Dividends This is the second […]

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Yahoo Finance’s Adam Shapiro breaks down the stocks to watch Thursday.

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Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO, joins Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade with Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss the company’s third-quarter earnings report, the spike in consumers listening at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, future outlook for 2020 and much more.

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Shares of 3D Systems plunged more than 7% in extended trading on Wednesday after the 3D printing solution provider reported a wider-than-expected 2Q loss. Lower demand across all products due to COVID-19 pandemic-led shutdowns and reduced level of business activities hurt the company’s overall 2Q results.3D Systems (DDD) reported a loss per share of $0.13, wider than analysts’ expectations of a loss of $0.10 per share. Revenues fell 28.7% to $112.1 million year-on-year and missed the Street estimate of $117.9 million.On July 16, B. Riley FBR analyst Sarkis Sherbetchyan resumed 3D coverage with a Hold rating and price target of $8 (13.3% upside potential). Sherbetchyan is optimistic about the long-term growth prospects of the company as well as the adoption of additive manufacturing in industrial production environments.However, he had cautioned that “Q2 could represent the weakest quarter in fiscal 2020 for industrial activity, and believes both 3D and ExOne should demonstrate improved operating performance in the second half of 2020 relative to Q2.”Overall, DDD has a Hold analyst consensus. The average price target of $8 implies upside potential of about 13%. (See DDD stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: CVS Health Beats 2Q Estimates, Top Analyst Sticks To Hold Zimmer Biomet Slips 3.7% On 2Q Profit Decline Fiverr Pops 18% In Pre-Market On Upbeat 2Q Earnings And Raised Outlook More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Moderna Secures $400M In Deposits For Supply Of Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate * Zynga Rises On Record 2Q Revenues Fueled By Digital Gaming Demand * Etsy Crushes 2Q Revenue Expectations; Roth Raises Stock To Buy * Digital Turbine Pops 25% On Blowout 1Q; Analyst Sees 41% Stock Upside

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(Bloomberg) — Soon, Elon Musk could be a Las Vegas transportation kingpin. On Wednesday, county officials unanimously approved designs for two additional tunnels connecting hotels with the Las Vegas Convention Center, clearing the way for Musk’s Boring Co. to expand its first commercial underground transportation system.Approval from the Clark County Commission is one of the last hurdles to a proposed expansion of a Boring Co. project burrowing underneath the convention center, which was largely finished in May but has yet to open for rides. One of the hotels connecting to the Loop, Resorts World, said it expects construction on the expansion to begin by the end of this year, Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, said in an emailed statement.In May, Musk tweeted that Boring Co. would “also connect Vegas hotels & airport.” Airport officials have held introductory conversations with the Boring Co. in recent weeks, according to Chris Jones, a spokesman for McCarran International Airport.With the coronavirus pandemic curbing travel, including to Las Vegas, Boring Co. and its hotel partners may benefit from some extra time to get their projects ready. Boring Co. has said it’s on track to finish the Vegas convention center Loop by January, in time for the massive Consumer Electronics Show, though conference organizers said last week that the event will be held exclusively online. A Boring Co. Loop to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is still mired in the city’s environmental review process and missed a deadline for opening this year that had been set by the baseball team’s financial chief.A spokesman for Boring Co. said he didn’t have more information on the hotel portion of the Las Vegas project. A spokeswomen for Wynn Resorts Ltd., owners of the other Vegas hotel that the Loop will connect, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The remaining procedural steps for the expansion include building permits and a license and maintenance agreement from a county department, a spokesman for Clark County said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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(Bloomberg) — Dan Gilbert’s long-awaited initial public offering of Rocket Cos. may have been downsized on Wednesday, but it finally reveals the vast fortune he’s built in a city battered by the last financial crisis.The listing values his mortgage company at about $35 billion after it priced 100 million shares at $18 each on Wednesday. While below a marketed range of $20 to $22 for 150 million shares, the Detroit-based firm, which includes Quicken Loans, has a higher market value than Ford Motor Co.The IPO makes Gilbert, 58, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the era of ultra-low interest rates and caps a career that’s seen him rise from delivering pizzas to befriending Warren Buffett, winning an NBA championship and becoming a figurehead for the transformation of downtown Detroit.His net worth is about $30 billion, more than three times the previous estimate on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It means for now he’s among the 40 richest people on the planet, ahead of Blackstone Group Inc.’s Stephen Schwarzman, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and cosmetics titan Leonard Lauder.Julia Sahin, a spokeswoman for Rocket Cos., declined to comment.Quicken Loans is the bedrock of Gilbert’s wealth. It’s the largest retail mortgage originator in the U.S., underwriting about $145 billion in 2019. That powered the company to $892 million in net income in 2019. This year — despite a pandemic — origination volumes hit a record in March, April, May and June with falling rates encouraging homeowners to refinance. And those rates keep dropping. The average for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 2.88%, the lowest in nearly 50 years of record keeping by Freddie Mac. Assembly Line“Quicken was able to create an assembly line for mortgage banking,” said Les Parker, managing director of consulting firm Transformational Mortgage Solutions.The specialization of every step in the lending process allowed it to process loans more efficiently, at lower cost, than banks.The company will have to contend with a mixed tracked record for retail lenders that have gone public, Parker said, with the cyclical nature of the industry making sustained growth difficult. Rocket’s diminished listing came after investors pushed back on the company’s valuation, arguing it should be priced as a consumer or financial company rather than a technology business, a person familiar with the matter said.Pizza DeliveryGilbert was born in a Detroit suburb in the early 1960s. A law student, he parlayed his earnings from delivering pizzas to set up lender Rock Financial in 1985, according to a 1998 prospectus. He later started direct mortgage lender Rockloans.com.This won’t be Quicken’s first experience as a public company. Rock Financial was bought by software maker Intuit in 1999, and renamed Quicken Loans. Gilbert bought the company back three years later when its annual mortgage originations stood at $7 billion. Low interest rates in the aftermath of the global financial crisis helped supercharge Quicken’s growth and it became the nation’s largest retail lender in 2017.With his company prospering as a private entity, Gilbert’s profile rose. He acquired the majority ownership of Cleveland’s National Basketball Association team in 2005 and bought up dozens of buildings in downtown Detroit during the last recession in a bid to revitalize Motor City. Other prized assets — such as the Cavaliers basketball franchise and real estate investment firm Bedrock — are held outside the newly listed entity.Christopher Leinberger, a research professor at the GW School of Business, part of George Washington University, estimates that these investments resulted in about $18 billion of increased economic activity for the city.“Who in his right mind would invest in 100 buildings in Detroit in 2010?” Leinberger said, adding that the gamble ultimately worked. “There wouldn’t be headlines about how downtown Detroit is back without Gilbert.”Perfect BracketGilbert also developed a rapport with another Midwestern billionaire.When Quicken’s marketing team offered a $1 billion prize to a contestant who predicted the winner of each game in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s men’s basketball tournament in 2014, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. insured the payout.The calculated gamble paid off: no one won but the prize drew plenty of attention to Quicken. The two also teamed up for an unsuccessful bid for Yahoo in 2016, the same year the Cavs won their first-ever championship.While its been nearly two decades since Gilbert stepped back as Quicken’s chief executive officer, the company still bears his imprint. The IPO filing highlights core principals Gilbert espoused like “Ignore the noise,” and “Every second counts.”His continuing influence was underlined when he had a stroke in 2019, news of which sent shockwaves through his companies and hometown.He’s since been able to return to work and there’s little indication he’s planning to relinquish control anytime soon. The filing notes he holds a class of shares with majority voting rights.(Updates with mortgage rates in sixth paragraph. An earlier version corrected the outcome of Gilbert’s Yahoo bid.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) by taking the…

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