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Moderna posted a steep third-quarter loss on Thursday as the drugmaker took a large writedown due to unused Covid vaccines, its only marketable products.
Moderna’s overall sales exceeded Wall Street expectations during the period, even amid falling demand for its shot. However, the outlook for next year was lower than analysts had predicted.
Here’s what Moderna reported for the third quarter compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on an analyst survey from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
- Loss per share: $9.53. That may not be comparable to the $1.93 per share expected by analysts.
- Revenue: $1.83 billion versus expected $1.40 billion
Moderna reported a net loss of $3.63 billion, or $9.53 per share, in the quarter. That compares with net income of $1.04 billion, or $2.53 per share, reported in the year-ago period.
The company said the loss was primarily due to $3.1 billion in mostly non-cash charges related to tax breaks and the change in its manufacturing locations. The resizing, which resulted in $1.4 billion in charges in the third quarter, is aimed at making the company’s Covid vaccine profitable in 2024 and beyond, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement .
Cost of sales was $2.2 billion in the quarter. These included a $1.3 billion charge for vaccines that had exceeded their shelf life and $500 million in contract manufacturing cessation costs.
The biotech company posted third-quarter revenue of $1.83 billion, with sales of its Covid shot down 44% compared to the same period last year. Total revenue fell from $3.36 billion that Moderna recorded in the third quarter of 2022, when Covid cases were still rising in the US
Moderna shares were down more than 57% year-to-date as of Wednesday’s close, putting the biotech company’s market value at about $29 billion.
Moderna reiterated its current full-year forecast of at least $6 billion in Covid vaccine sales, but did not provide a range for that forecast. In August, Moderna said it expected to generate sales of $6 billion to $8 billion in 2023.
Questions about the Covid vaccine
The company said its forecast assumes Covid vaccine trends will be consistent with last fall, but noted that U.S. vaccination rates are still the “largest remaining variable for annual sales.”
Notably, Moderna said its Covid vaccine has won 45% of US market share so far this fall, up from 36% in 2022. The company added that it expects a US market for Covid vaccinations of at least 50 million doses this fall.
Moderna expects revenue of around $4 billion in 2024, mostly in the second half of the year, largely due to global sales of Covid vaccinations and the launch of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Wall Street analysts had expected $6 billion next year. Moderna expects to return to organic sales growth by 2025.
Moderna and its rivals Pfizer and Novavax have all seen a decline in sales of their Covid-related products as much of the world emerges from the pandemic and becomes less reliant on protective vaccines and treatments.
Moderna hopes to shift investor focus from Covid to a pipeline of new vaccines. The company is developing vaccinations against other respiratory diseases and hopes to offer a range of new vaccinations against cancer, heart disease and other diseases by 2030.
The product range includes Moderna’s experimental vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The company applied for full approval of the shot for adults 60 and older in July and expects a decision from regulators in 2024.
Moderna also hopes to receive approval for its combination Covid and flu vaccine in 2025. This vaccine recently showed positive early results in a mid-stage clinical trial and is expected to provide greater convenience to patients and healthcare providers.
The pipeline also includes Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine, a highly anticipated vaccine being developed with Merck that targets multiple tumor types, and a flu vaccine.
Moderna will host a conference call with investors on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. ET.