Why Are Novavax (NVAX) Shares Soaring Today

What Happened?

Shares of vaccine biotechnology company Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) jumped 19.7% in the afternoon session after the company announced it entered into a license agreement with Pfizer for its Matrix-M adjuvant technology. 

Under the non-exclusive agreement, Pfizer gained access to Novavax's technology that boosts immune responses to vaccines. In return, Novavax received an upfront payment of $30 million. The company also became eligible for up to an additional $500 million in potential development and sales milestone payments. Furthermore, the deal included tiered, mid-single-digit percentage royalty payments to Novavax on sales of any Pfizer product that incorporated the Matrix-M adjuvant. The agreement covered the use of the technology in up to two different infectious disease areas.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

Novavax’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 48 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Novavax and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 19 days ago when the stock gained 3% on the news that reports revealed that its JN.1 Covid-19 vaccine became available at some GP clinics in Singapore. This batch of the vaccine was made available from January 2 until May 31, 2026. The development occurred against a backdrop of cautious optimism in the biopharmaceutical sector for the year. A survey of industry professionals showed 52% felt optimistic about growth in 2026. This news followed the company's recently reported third-quarter 2025 financial results, which were mixed. Although Novavax beat revenue expectations with $70.45 million, sales had fallen 16.6% from the previous year, and the company's loss per share was wider than analysts had expected.

Novavax is up 38.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $9.89 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Novavax’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $80.76.

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