Moderna misses on 3Q, shaves 2022 vaccine expectations

Sliding COVID-19 vaccine sales and rising expenses for Moderna combined to produce a third quarter that missed Wall Street expectations.

The vaccine developer also said today that it was dialing back its revenue expectations from advance purchase agreements for this year, as some sales will be deferred to 2023.

Moderna also said Thursday that between $2 billion and $3 billion in vaccine sales will be deferred to next year, and the company now expects between $18 billion and $19 billion in revenue from advance purchase agreements this year.

That’s down from the approximately $21 billion it forecast in August.

Company shares tumbled in early-morning trading.

The vaccine developer said its Spikevax vaccine brought in $3.12 billion in sales during the quarter, a 35% drop compared to last year.

Moderna also scaled back expectations for COVID-19 vaccine deliveries in last year’s third quarter due to supply issues. CEO Stephane Bancel said then that the problems were short-term and can be fixed.

The COVID-19 vaccine is Moderna’s main source of revenue, outside of grants and money from collaborations. Total revenue fell 32% to $3.36 billion.

The company’s net income slid 69% to $1.04 billion, and earnings per share totaled $2.53.

Analysts were looking for earnings of $3.30 per share on $3.53 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Moderna’s operating expenses jumped 56% to $2.2 billion, as the company spent more on research and hired additional employees.

Company shares fell more than 11%, or $17.30, to $131.32 in premarket trading.