Moderna raises COVID vaccine sales outlook despite 94% Q2 drop
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Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) traded ~4% higher pre-market Thursday after the vaccine maker lifted its full-year outlook for its blockbuster COVID shot despite a ~94% contraction in product sales for Q2 2023.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech reported better than expected financials for the quarter even as its total revenue plunged to $344M from $4.7B in the prior-year period as demand for its vaccine Spikevax plummeted alongside COVID infections.
"Second quarter sales were on target, given the seasonal nature of Covid. I am pleased with the progress our U.S. commercial team has made to get new contracts in place for fall 2023," CEO StÃ©phane Bancel noted.
Compared to at least $5B projected three months ago, Moderna (MRNA) expects its 2023 COVID vaccine sales to reach $6Bâ8B in line with the consensus. The outlook includes $4B from previously announced Advance Purchase Agreements (APAs) and $2Bâ4B expected from commercial contracts in the U.S. and overseas.
Notably, the company said that the projection is subject to the 2023 U.S. market size for a fall immunization drive, where 50M â 100M vaccine doses are expected to be required.
However, product sales for the quarter fell ~94% YoY to $293M compared to $271M in the consensus, mainly due to lower sales volumes.
Meanwhile, the company swung to a net loss of $1.4B from $2.2B of net income in the prior-year period as its R&D expenses and SG&A costs rose ~62% YoY and ~57% YoY to $1.1B and $332M, respectively.
However, Moderna (MRNA) reported better-than-expected liquidity, indicating $3.8B in cash and equivalents at the end of the quarter compared to $3.2B at the end of 2022.
As for its ex-COVID pipeline, the company expects to launch its messenger-RNA-based RSV vaccine and cancer vaccine mRNA-4157 for melanoma in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

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