Moderna Despite low demand, on Thursday it blew away previous estimates for first-quarter earnings and revenue, posting a surprise quarterly profit covid Vaccines, its only marketable product.
The biotech company posted sales of $1.9 billion in the first quarter, driven by Covid shot revenue deferred to 2022. This is more than 60% less than the $6.1 billion recorded in the same period a year ago when there was a resurgence of Covid cases.
Moderna posted net income of $79 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter. This compares to $3.66 billion in net income, or $8.58 per share, reported during the same quarter last year.
what’s here Modern reported Compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- earnings per share: 19 cents per share versus the expected loss of $1.77 per share
- Income: $1.86 billion vs. $1.18 billion expected
Shares of the Massachusetts-based company closed 3% higher on Thursday. Its shares are down about 25% as of Thursday’s close, reducing the company’s market value to about $51.8 billion.
Cost of sales for the quarter was $792 million. This included a $148 million write-off for vaccines that have outlived their shelf life and $135 million from unused manufacturing capacity, among other expenses.
Moderna maintained its full-year guidance of at least $5 billion in revenue from its Covid vaccine, which will come from government contracts signed for the shot.
CEO Stephen Bancel said Thursday on CNBC “Squawk Box” He believes the company is “well on our way to executing” on that goal.
The company is also in discussions about new contracts with customers in Europe, Japan and the US.
America will Infection As the federal Covid vaccination program declines for the private market.
Bancel said the company is actively discussing new vaccine contracts with US government agencies, pharmacy chains and hospital systems. Moderna expects to have more clarity on those contracts in the next four to six weeks.
The company is set to launch more boosters after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month Was granted the right Additional vaccines targeting the Omicron variant for seniors and people with weakened immune systems.
The FDA is also preparing for a vaccine meeting in June, where outside consultants will select which Covid strains new vaccines will target when it arrives in the fall.
Moderna expects the US to need 100 million vaccine doses annually.
But demand for the Covid shot is still falling as the pandemic subsides and the US shifts to an annual vaccination schedule instead of repeated booster doses. That’s Moderna and rival drug maker pfizer During the peak of the pandemic both the companies were struggling to take off their Covid vaccine which had made both the companies household names.
“This is going to be a transition year,” Bancel told CNBC. He added that Moderna is “investing aggressively to grow the company.”
This is meant to enhance Moderna’s mRNA-based drug pipeline.
The company’s products use messenger RNA technology, which teaches human cells to produce a protein that initiates an immune response against a certain disease.
Moderna President Stephen Hoge highlighted the company’s efforts on the earnings call to create vaccines that target multiple respiratory diseases in a single dose, which he said will be “the future of our respiratory franchise.”
The company has five different combination vaccines in early clinical trials, he said.
Bancel told CNBC that the company hopes to launch a combination vaccine targeting Covid and flu by 2025. Those shots will be optimized to contain the spread of effective flu and Covid strains.
“So you can just walk into your pharmacy and take a shot and be winter ready,” he told CNBC.
Moderna said in April that it expected to offer a new set Number of life-saving vaccines targeting cancer, heart disease and other conditions by 2030.
That lineup includes Moderna’s experimental vaccine that targets respiratory syncytial virus. The company expects to file for full approval of the shot for adults age 60 and older this quarter.
This includes Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine, a highly anticipated mRNA shot being co-developed with merck To target different tumor types. Moderna is also developing a flu vaccine, but the company said the shot does not meet Early success criteria in a late phase clinical trial.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Moderna’s first quarter revenue was down more than 60%.
