• Individual Project – Equity Research Report
  You’ve just started as a junior equity research analyst at J.P. Morgan’s Large Cap Biotechnology team. Your first assignment is to update the initiating research report on BioNTech SE(Nasdaq: BNTX) by the senior analyst, Cory Kasimov, dated November 4, 2019. The task includes three parts:
  
  

  1. 1. Analyze Kasimov’s report:

• (1,000 words plus appendices, 25marks)

  1. a. What are the purpose and target audience of equity research reports?
  2. b. Did JPM have any conflicts of interest based on previous or current work for BNTX?
  3. c. Describe BNTX’s new mRNA-based approach to fighting cancer
  4. d. In which stages of development were BNTX’s individual treatments?
  5. e. Which role do partnerships with larger pharmaceutical groups have for BNTX?
  6. f. In which therapeutic areas outside oncology did BNTX develop treatments in 2019?
  7. g. What wasJPM’s thesis for investing in BNTX in November 2019?
  8. h. Assess the investment risks identified in the report
  9. i. Describe in detail the valuation approach used
  10. j. Find good comparables for BNTX in 2019 and value the stock using trading multiples
  11. k. Critically assess Kasimov’s valuation, target price and recommendation.

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  2. 2. How did COVID-19 fundamentally change BNTX’s business?

• (1,000 words plus appendices, 25 marks)

  1. a. Describe the scope and economics of the Pfizer and BioNTech collaboration
  2. b. Prepare a table with a time-line of all major events for the firms
  3. c. What are the prices for two-shot vaccinations in the developed world? Elsewhere?
  4. d. What’s the size of the global market in units and US-Dollars for mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in 2021? In 2022? In 2023? Long-term?
  5. e. Use news services, the firms’ investor relations websites, the SEC’s EDGAR database, and other public sources for background information

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  2. 3.. Prepare an up-to-date equity research report on BioNTech, which covers the following items: (2,000 words plus appendices, 50marks total)
     1. a. Summary pages 1 & 2 (recommendation, target price, quarterly forecasts, investment thesis, valuation, price performance, company data, key metrics)
     2. b. Investment thesis
     3. c. Risks to rating and price target
     4. d. Company description
     5. e. Upcoming events
     6. Pipeline overview
     7. f. Key strategic agreements
     8. g. Financial outlook
  3. h. Valuation
     1. i. DCF (full Excel workbook as an appendix, 10 marks)
     2. ii. Trading multiples analysis (full Excel workbook as an appendix, 10 marks)
  4. i. Management
  5. j. Financial forecast(full Excel workbook as an appendix, 10 marks)
     • i. Income statements(last actuals and 6 quarters and 5 years ahead)
  6. ii. Balance sheets (last actuals and 5 years ahead)
  7. iii. Cash flow statements (last actuals and 5 years ahead)
  8. k. Summary of financials

• This is an individual assignment. Feel free to use any public source for your work but you must reference it in your submission clearly. You cannot discuss the case with anyone or cooperate in any form. Note, that the UTD regulations on academic dishonesty apply

  Submit your three reports and Excel models via eLearning before the stated deadlines. The Note on Written Homework Submissions, No. 1 – 5, applies. Also, don’t forget to number your answers and make sure you add a cover sheet with the assignment name, word count, and your name. Do not include the question text in your word count.