Meet the New Nasdaq-100 Stock That’s Crushing Nvidia, Micron, and Sandisk. Is It Too Late to Buy?

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) stocks soared in the triple and quadruple digits, leading the S&P 500 higher. Investors rushed to get in on the next big tech growth story, a technology with the potential to transform how many things are done and, as a result, fuel significant gains in corporate earnings. Companies such as AI chip designer Nvidia and memory chip providers Micron Technology and Sandisk have seen their shares skyrocket, and the positive momentum continues today.

But this year, AI stocks haven't been the only growth story. In fact, though they continue to advance, investors have expanded into other industries and turned their attention to new growth opportunities. And this brings me to the stock I'll talk about right here.

This particular company, a biotech innovator, has seen its shares surge more than 600% this year, largely outperforming Nvidia, Micron, Sandisk, and many other top-performing AI stocks. And just a few days ago, it entered the prestigious Nasdaq-100, an index that tracks the biggest non-financial Nasdaq companies.

This stock has been a clear winner for investors this year. But after its enormous gain, is it too late to buy now? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Moderna's coronavirus blockbuster

The stock I'm talking about has known both tremendous increases and major declines in past years. This company is Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), a biotech that made headlines when it brought its coronavirus vaccine from the drawing board to commercialization in less than a year. That was during the early days of the pandemic, and the vaccine, the company's first commercialized product, became a blockbuster, bringing in more than $18 billion at its peak in 2022. Investors piled into Moderna stock, pushing it to a gain of more than 2,000% over about a year and a half.

In recent years, however, Moderna faced significant headwinds. Demand for the vaccine declined in the later days of the pandemic, the company's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine has struggled to gain market share, and Moderna's much-anticipated cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine candidate failed in a phase 3 study.

But Moderna has progressively turned things around. The company cut costs to match the current coronavirus vaccine revenue opportunity, won approval of new products such as a flu vaccine and new coronavirus vaccine updates, and focused its pipeline on oncology and rare diseases in addition to respiratory illnesses. In fact, the progress in oncology has been a catalyst for the stock's performance this year.

Moderna is studying intismeran autogene, a personalized cancer vaccine, in 10 clinical studies, with the most advanced in phase 3. In August, the company announced that intismeran autogene in combination with Merck's Keytruda met its goals of recurrence-free survival and survival without the spread of disease to distant organs in patients with melanoma. The companies said they would "engage with regulators on filing submissions," suggesting a new product approval for Moderna may be on the horizon.

Surpassing Wall Street's price targets

Moderna had already climbed about 100% this year prior to that news, but the stock soared thereafter, pushing it to gains that surpass those of the AI companies I mentioned earlier. And the stock, trading at around $225, surpasses the average Wall Street 12-month price estimate of $122.

MRNA data by YCharts

Now, let's get back to our question: Is it too late to buy this hot biotech stock? Moderna has a bright future ahead, with new products generating revenue and a late-stage pipeline that should deliver fresh revenue streams moving forward. So Moderna is no longer only a coronavirus vaccine company, and instead is transforming into a larger biotech company with the ability to address a broad range of treatment areas.

Moderna makes a fantastic stock to own, and it should have plenty of room to run in the future as it wins approval for some of its promising pipeline candidates and generates revenue. That said, considering the stock's massive increase this year, I would watch it closely and wait for an opportunity to buy on the dip.

Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Merck, Micron Technology, Moderna, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.