Moderna Stock Takes Minimal Hit After New COVID Vaccine Topped Projected Estimates 

Moderna announced an increase in stock following first-quarter earnings reported that its only commercially available Covid vaccine exceeded estimates.

The results come slightly before the biotech company plans to release another product as the demand for COVID-19 vaccines continues to decrease worldwide. The company is anticipating U.S. approval for an RSV—also known as respiratory syncytial virus—vaccine on May 12. If cleared, the shot will launch in the third quarter. 

Moderna shares grew over 6% on May 2 following the results. 

Beating Wall Street’s expectations of $97.5 million, Moderna closed sales at $167 million during the first quarter, although revenue from the COVID-19 shot dropped almost 90% during the same time period in 2023. 

For the entire year of 2023, Moderna reported $1.86 billion in revenue. After adopting a cost-cutting strategy, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company is doing well. “On the operating expenses side of a company, we’ve made great progress,” Bancel said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” adding the team “has done a great job resizing the company.” 

The company’s CFO, Jamey Mock, broke down the revenue’s regional origins: nearly $100 million came from the U.S., and $67 million came from international markets like Latin America. Second quarter reports will include a section of the company’s contract with Brazil, as Moderna recently announced it will supply 12.5 million COVID-19 vaccines. 

The revenue decline partly came from transitioning to a seasonal COVID-19 vaccine trend, showing patients taking their shots primarily in the fall and winter months. However, it’s not all bad news. According to Quartz, Moderna’s $1.18 billion net loss, the equivalent of  $3.07 per share, is still stronger than the $1.4 billion net loss estimated by the FactSet consensus. 

Mock said the company is “more encouraged by what we’re seeing from a productivity perspective” in the first quarter than the higher sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. However, they hope sales will pick up after the RSV vaccine rollout. Their goal is to “build upon the success of its commercial efforts in the fall COVID-19 market.”

“This is the start of a banner year for our vaccine platform as we continue to advance mRNA medicines for patients,” Bancel said. 

“This is just the beginning.”

In 2025, Moderna expects an increase in sales growth and to break even by 2026, following the launch of new products and an update of current products. The company announced an updated COVID-19 vaccine called mRNA-1283, which is described as having a more robust immune response than its current after phase-3 clinical trial results.

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