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Moderna’s Shot Sales, Canceled Contract Lead to Another Loss
Moderna Inc. recorded another quarterly loss as vaccine sales wane and the company had an unexpected charge for a canceled manufacturing contract.
(Bloomberg) -- Moderna Inc. recorded another quarterly loss as vaccine sales wane and the company had an unexpected charge for a canceled manufacturing contract.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company lost $2.91 a share in the last three months of the year, its fifth quarterly loss in the past two years. The company took a non-cash charge of $238 million for the terminated contract, according to a statement.
Moderna has been struggling to shore up its business of making vaccines using messenger RNA technology as its second approved product, an RSV vaccine, has gained little traction. The company reduced costs by 27% last year, and has said it will cut $1 billion more this year.
The shares fell as much as 8.4% in trading when markets opened in New York. They lost 23% this year through Thursday’s close.
The stock is “such a mess,” Mizuho’s Jared Holz said in a note, adding that the company’s operational spending is “incredibly high.”
Moderna invested heavily in manufacturing during the pandemic to meet high demand for its Covid vaccine. The company has been reducing capacity as demand for the shot falls.
Last month, Moderna slashed its 2025 sales forecast by $1 billion, causing its shares to plunge. The company said the forecast cut reflects more competition in the Covid market, potential delays with building facilities and the possibility that Covid vaccination rates could descend even further.
Struggling to Compete
Moderna lost market share in the US last year, in part because it didn’t have multiple products during contracting season. Its main Covid rival, Pfizer Inc., has a larger portfolio of products that it can sell as a bundle at a discounted rate, pressuring Moderna to match a lower price.
The company is focused this year on boosting sales, lowering expenses and investing in the launch of new products, Chief Financial Officer Jamey Mock said in an interview. US regulators are expected to decide whether to approve the company’s next-generation Covid shot in late May and an RSV vaccine for younger adults in June.
A final-stage trial of Moderna’s experimental vaccine against norovirus, a common gut infection, was put on clinical hold after a report of Guillian-Barre syndrome, Moderna said. While rare, the autoimmune condition has been associated with other vaccines as well as infections, surgery and trauma. The event is under investigation, and the company expects “minimal impact” on the readout of results, officials said on a call.
What Bloomberg Intelligence Says:
The reiterated 2025 guidance — with $2 billion at the midpoint — makes the estimate of $2.4 billion look too aggressive in a year of uncertainties for vaccine sales in the US. Likely to test investor patience, there’s also very little update on pipeline progress, especially on the potential cytomegalovirus vaccine.
— Analysts Sam Fazeli and Max Nisen. Read the research here.
Fourth-quarter sales were almost $1 billion, Moderna said, slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations but down by about two-thirds from the year-earlier period. Nearly all that revenue came from the company’s Covid shot, while its RSV vaccine generated just $15 million.
Moderna is also grappling with the uncertainties of the second Trump administration, particularly now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine critic, has been sworn in as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Last month, Moderna was awarded an additional $590 million from the US government to help develop a vaccine to protect people from bird flu.
The company reaffirmed that it expects 2025 revenue from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion.
--With assistance from Anne Cronin.
(Updates with shares, additional context norovirus trial hold from fourth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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First Published:14 Feb 2025, 09:30 PM IST
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