This Pneumococcal Vaccine Player Is The Top Pick For 2023 For This Analyst

Vaxcyte Inc PCVX is Needham's top pick for 2023 and has been added to the Needham Conviction list and raised the price target to $58 from $52.
The analyst writes that the positive initial VAX-24 Phase 1/2 results in October 2022 significantly de-risked the company's VAX-24 Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) lead program, thus increasing conviction for a similarly optimistic outcome for the upcoming initial Phase 1/2 data readout in adults 65+ y/o in 1H23.
The analyst sees an upside into the $55-60/share range if the Phase 1/2 64+ y/o results are positive.
With a significant Pharma interest in the Pneumococcal Vaccine space (over $7 billion market dominated by Pfizer Inc's PFE Prevnar) and analyst views that VAX-24 has a potential best-in-class profile make PCVX a compelling M&A target.
Needham models the Pneumococcal Vaccine market to reach around $11.7 billion by 2038. The base case assumes VAX-24/XP captures ~50% of the market at peak, with $6.1 billion in global sales.
Price Action: PCVX shares are down 0.65% at $47.64 on the last check Tuesday.