The IDT Australia Limited (ASX: IDT) share price has slipped into the red during early trade on Tuesday.
Despite this, IDT shares have been a major performer on the Australian broad indices lately.
Whereas the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has slipped around 0.2% over the last month, the IDT share price has climbed 75% into the green.
Let's investigate further.
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What tailwinds are behind the IDT Australia share price?
Without a doubt, the major fuel supply to the company's growth engine was the announcement in mid-August from the IDT Australia camp that it could "produce 100 million doses of mRNA vaccines within 18 months".
Recall that IDT had slotted into the Australian government's plans to produce mRNA vaccines on our own shores.
The company has secured a potentially lucrative contract to do so by building out a "sterile manufacturing facility" in an agreement with the federal Department of Health.
In addition to its talks with federal departments, the company has also "formed an alliance" with various research bodies around the country to produce mRNA vaccines, such as Monash University and the Victorian government.
Its manufacturing facility currently lies in a "state of readiness to produce a COVID-19 vaccine" but will only be utilised if and when the government calls upon IDT to produce the compound.
In other words, the agreement provides for an "exclusivity period" with the Australian government. But, on the flip side, the decision to manufacture a vaccine is entirely at the government's discretion.
The IDT share price immediately soared higher after these announcements. It climbed from 37 cents to a high of 74.5 cents on 27 August, a 101% gain over the week.
There has been no other market-sensitive information for the company during this time. Therefore, it appears investors have been buying IDT shares on the back of these key updates.
IDT Australia share price snapshot
The IDT Australia share price has climbed 259% into the green over the year to date, extending the return over the past 12 months to 297%. Despite this growth, IDT shares have slipped 1.5% in the red in the last week.
These results have both clearly outpaced the broad index's return of around 25% over the past year.
