Novavax (NVAX) shares surged 5.06% in Tuesday's intraday trading session, despite B. Riley adjusting its price target on the stock from $18 to $16. The positive market reaction comes as the financial services firm maintained its "Buy" rating on the vaccine developer's stock.

While the price target reduction might seem counterintuitive to the stock's upward movement, investors appear to be focusing on the maintained "Buy" rating and the fact that the new target price still represents significant upside potential from current levels. B. Riley's continued confidence in Novavax, despite the slight downward adjustment in price expectations, seems to have bolstered investor sentiment.

The broader analyst community also maintains a generally positive outlook on Novavax. According to FactSet, the stock has an average rating of "Overweight" with a mean price target of $13.62. This consensus view, combined with B. Riley's latest assessment, suggests that Wall Street sees potential in Novavax's future performance, driving the stock's impressive gains in today's trading session.