MW Moderna looks to pipeline to restore battered stock after quarterly loss

By Ciara Linnane

COVID-19 vaccine sales topped consensus but RSV sales remain modest

Moderna Inc.'s stock fell 2.9% early Friday, after the biotech posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and offered soft guidance for 2025, offsetting a revenue beat.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna $(MRNA)$ had a net loss of $1.1 billion for the quarter, or $2.91 a share, after earnings of $217 million, or 55 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue fell to $1.0 billion from $2.8 billion a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of $2.68 and revenue of $943 million.

The decline in sales was mostly due to the earlier launch of the updated COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., which shifted sales into the third quarter.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval granted three weeks earlier than in the previous year enabled the company to meet demand more effectively ahead of the fourth quarter," the company said in a statement.

The COVID vaccine spikevax is one of Moderna's two approved products, along with mRESVIA, a treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Sales of spikevax came to $923 million to account for most of the quarterly total, while sales of mRESVIA came to $15 million. The spikevax number was ahead of the FactSet consensus for $909 million.

The company is now expecting 2025 revenue to range from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion, for a midpoint of $2.0 billion, while FactSet is expecting $2.4 billion. Most of that will come in the second half, given the seasonality of the company's respiratory business.

"In 2025, we remain focused on driving sales, delivering up to 10 product approvals through 2027, and expanding cost efficiencies across our business," Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said in prepared remarks.

The company is expecting to achieve multiple approvals starting this year once it begins to offer Phase 3 data readouts and is aiming to eliminate almost $1 billion in costs.

Research & development costs fell 20% in the quarter to $1.1 billion. That was mostly due to lower costs related to the COVID, RSV, seasonal flu and combination vaccine programs, which was partially offset by higher spending on the norovirus and individualized neoantigen therapy (INT) programs.

The stock has fallen 62.9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 22.3%.

-Ciara Linnane

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February 14, 2025 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT)

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