Moderna Lifts 2023 COVID-19 Vaccine Sales Outlook, Despite Over 90% Fall In Q2 Sales

Moderna Inc MRNA shares are trading higher after the company reported a smaller-than-expected Q2 loss of $(3.62), beating the consensus of $(3.84).

The company's Q2 sales fell to $344.00 million, beating the consensus of $290.74 million.

The revenues fell almost 90% from $4.7 billion in the same period in 2022, mainly due to decreased sales of the Company's COVID-19 vaccine. 

Product sales for the second quarter of 2023 were $293 million, a decrease of 94% compared to the same period in 2022, primarily driven by lower sales volume.

Q2 cost of sales was $731 million, including $464 million for inventory write-downs related to excess and obsolete COVID-19 product, unutilized manufacturing capacity of $135 million, and losses on firm purchase commitments of $75 million. 

These charges were primarily driven by a shift in product demand to the latest monovalent XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine candidate and a decline in customer demand. 

The shift from a bivalent to a monovalent strain selection rendered the remaining mRNA-1273.222 product inventory obsolete. 

Moderna reported $0.3 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales in the second quarter, leading to $2.1 billion in total vaccine sales for the first half of the year, achieving expectations.

Outlook: Moderna expects 2023 COVID-19 vaccine sales of $6 billion to $8 billion, driven by potential U.S. demand for 50-100 million doses in the fall. That's up from its previous forecast of $5 billion. 

The guidance includes approximately $4 billion from previously announced COVID-19 vaccine Advance Purchase Agreements and $2 billion-$4 billion in signed and anticipated commercial contracts.

Moderna said $1 billion in previously anticipated 2023 sales from signed government contracts was pushed to 2024.

Price Action: MRNA shares are up 0.68% at $110.97 on the last check Thursday.

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