Moderna stock continued a two-day dive Thursday despite reporting its first-ever profit after the first full quarter of Covid vaccine sales. But sales lagged forecasts.
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In the first quarter, Moderna (MRNA) posted $1.94 billion in revenue, including $1.73 billion in sales of its Covid vaccine. But analysts called for $2.06 billion in sales, and the disparity slammed Moderna stock.
Still, guidance for 2021 was strong. Moderna expects $19.2 billion in sales this year based on its already-scheduled deliveries. And Moderna boosted its outlook for doses manufactured to 800 million this year. It’s still working to hit 1 billion.
But Moderna stock fell 1.4% to 160.50. That continued a dive that started Wednesday after President Biden voiced support for waiving patent protections for Covid vaccines to help other countries manufacture their own vaccines.
Moderna Stock Dives Despite Profit
There’s a lot of moving parts for Moderna stock.
On one hand, the company reported its first-ever profit on Thursday. On an adjusted basis, Moderna earned $2.84 per share. That swung from a 35-cent loss in the year-earlier period and easily beat expectations for $2.39 a share.
And, despite the first-quarter sales miss, Moderna is still bullish on its future. In the current quarter, it expects to deliver 200 million to 250 million in Covid vaccine doses. The company also has lofty projections for 2022.
In addition to negotiating supply agreements with existing and new customer governments, the firm has a deal with COVAX to supply a minimum of 466 million doses in 2022. COVAX is a global initiative to ensure Covid vaccine access.
All of this together, “make us believe that our total advance purchase agreements for 2022 should be higher than those in 2021,” Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in a written statement.
That would lead to higher sales. Analysts call for $17.1 billion and $13.6 billion in 2021 and 2022 sales, respectively.
Variant-Specific Covid Shot Promising
Also late Wednesday, Moderna released the results from a Phase 2 study of its Covid vaccine booster program. The company tested its approach in previously vaccinated volunteers.
A third shot of its original Covid vaccine successfully boosted antibodies against variants first discovered in South Africa and Brazil. A booster dose of the variant-specific vaccine generated an even higher level of protective antibodies.
Both were well tolerated, Moderna said in a news release. Meanwhile, the company is still working on what’s known as a multivalent booster shot. This would combine the original dose and the variant-specific dose into one shot.
But the good news didn’t buoy Moderna stock after its first-quarter sales miss and after the Biden administration expressed interest in waiving patent protection for Covid vaccines. The biotech stock is forming a cup base with a buy point at 189.36, according to MarketSmith.com.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
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