moderna The company on Thursday posted a surprise third-quarter profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as cost-cutting efforts took hold and sales of its coronavirus vaccine beat expectations.
The biotechnology company’s third-quarter net income was $13 million, or 3 cents per share. This compares to a net loss of $3.63 billion, or 9.53 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Moderna’s stock rose nearly 9% in premarket trading Thursday.
Moderna is cutting costs toward its recently announced goal of achieving $1.1 billion in savings by 2027 as it seeks to recover from a sharp decline in business caused by the coronavirus. This first quarter included sales of Moderna’s second-ever commercially available product, a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
By the end of the year, the company plans to apply for approval for its experimental “next-generation” coronavirus vaccine and a combination vaccine for the coronavirus and influenza. Moderna also plans to apply for expanded approval of its RSV vaccine this year for high-risk adults ages 18 to 59.
Moderna said Thursday that its latest coronavirus vaccine is showing promise after gaining approval in the U.S. three weeks earlier than the previous shot in 2023, and that the biotech company will be able to “more effectively meet demand.” ” was announced. The company was able to ship doses to pharmacies and health care providers, getting them into the hands of more patients faster.
“I think the early launch and steep ramp-up drove sales numbers significantly,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said of the coronavirus vaccine in an interview. Bancel noted that in the first week of the vaccine’s launch, the company shipped twice as much product around the world as in 2023.
“This was a quarter where we achieved significant cost savings, and we intend to continue to do so going forward,” he added.
Below is a comparison of Moderna’s third-quarter report to Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG.
Earnings per share: 3 cents, vs. expected loss of $1.90 vs. revenue: $1.86 billion, expected $1.25 billion
Moderna’s third-quarter sales were $1.86 billion, slightly higher than sales of $1.83 billion in the same period last year. The bulk of that total was due to coronavirus countermeasures, including $1.2 billion in sales in the U.S. and about $600 million in sales from international markets.
The company’s third-quarter earnings also included $10 million in U.S. sales of its RSV vaccine, which won approval in May. Moderna said sales for the vaccine were lower than expected because it was approved and recommended by regulators late in the contracting season, when many vaccine distributors had already completed orders.
Analysts had expected sales of the RSV vaccine to be $132 million, according to estimates compiled by Street Account. Moderna’s RSV vaccine has so far been approved in the United States, European Union, Norway, Iceland and Qatar.
The company reiterated its full-year product sales forecast for 2024 at approximately $3 billion to $3.5 billion. Moderna lowered its outlook last quarter, citing lower expected sales in Europe, a “competitive environment” for respiratory vaccines in the U.S. and the possibility that international revenue could be deferred to 2025.
Moderna’s stock price has fallen nearly 50% this year as investors ponder the path forward post-COVID-19. The company is betting on a pipeline built around its Messenger RNA platform. The messenger RNA platform is the technology used in the coronavirus and RSV vaccines.
The biotech company currently has 45 products in development, 10 of which will be brought to market over the next three years.
Moderna is developing a standalone influenza vaccine, a personalized cancer vaccine with Merck, and a vaccine against latent viruses, among other products.
Cost of goods sold for the third quarter was $514 million, a decrease of 77% from the same period last year. This includes, among other costs, a $214 million writedown on unused COVID-19 vaccines and $27 million in costs related to efforts to reduce its manufacturing footprint.
Research and development expenses decreased 2% compared to the same period in 2023 to $1.1 billion. Moderna said the decline was primarily due to lower clinical development and manufacturing costs, including lower spending on clinical trials.
Meanwhile, selling, general and administrative expenses for the period decreased 36% compared to the third quarter of 2023 to $281 million. SG&A expenses typically include the costs of advertising, selling, and providing a company’s products and services.
