Jim Cramer Says He's Known Novavax Is 'Worthless' For 'Very Long Time,' Trashes Company For Being Too 'Promotional'

Novavax Inc NVAX shares are crashing Wednesday after the company warned that substantial doubt exists regarding its ability to continue. 

Jim Cramer isn't surprised.

"I've been saying the thing is, not phony, but worthless for a very long time," Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street."

What To Know: Although Novavax said its current cash flow forecast shows that it likely has sufficient capital available to continue to fund operations, the company noted that its outlook is subject to significant uncertainty related to revenues, government funding and pending arbitration.

"Given these uncertainties, substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to continue as a going concern through one year from the date that these financial statements are issued," the company said in its fourth-quarter earnings release.

Related Link: Novavax Ushers New CEO On Uncertainty Concerns, Says It Needs To Work On Competitive COVID-19 Product

Cramer suggested that he had been expecting to hear something like this from the company for quite a while because he thought Novavax was more focused on promoting itself than running a solid business.

"I didn't want them on the show, I just didn't because I think that they had been very promotional. Well, they're not promotional today," Cramer said. 

Novavax previously said it had a COVID-19 vaccine that was as good as the vaccines from Pfizer Inc. PFE and Moderna Inc MRNA, he said.

When you make a claim like that, "You better back it up with facts and they did not back it up," Cramer said. 

The "Mad Money" host noted the company "isn't as bad" as Emergent Biosolutions Inc EBS, which he said misled him about its collaboration with Johnson & Johnson JNJ. But still, investors don't want to own companies like Novavax, he said.

"You can't be in companies that can't produce," Cramer emphasized.

See Also: Novavax, AMC Entertainment And Other Big Stocks Moving Lower Wednesday

NVAX Price Action: Novavax shares are making new 52-week lows on Wednesday.

The stock was down 25.92% at $6.87 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Owen Byrne from Flickr.