Moderna Shares Rally After Topping Q2 Estimates

© Reuters Moderna (MRNA) Shares Rally After Topping Q2 Estimates

By Sam Boughedda

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares jumped more than 13% in early Wednesday trading after it posted earnings before the open Wednesday, topping analyst earnings and revenue consensus estimates.

The pharmaceutical company revealed second-quarter earnings of $5.24 per share, $0.70 better than the analyst estimate of $4.54. Revenue for the quarter came in at $4.7 billion versus the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion.

Moderna's said its revenue increase was primarily due to $4.5 billion in product sales, driven by increased sales of the company's COVID-19 vaccine.

However, its cost of sales was $1.4 billion, or 30% of product sales, including a charge of $499 million for inventory write-downs related to its Covid vaccine, while there was also a loss on firm purchase commitments of $184 million. Moderna put the loss down to a "substantial reduction" of its expected deliveries to COVAX and a deferral of deliveries to other customers, particularly to the European Union.

Moderna reiterated advance purchase agreements for expected delivery in 2022 of approximately $21 billion. In addition, it announced a new $3 billion share repurchase plan.

"Despite the slowing economy and challenges in the biotech industry, Moderna is in a unique position: a platform to drive scale and speed in research of new medicines, a strong balance sheet with $18 billion of cash and an agile, mission-driven team of over 3,400 people and growing. We will continue to invest and grow as we have never been as optimistic about Moderna's future. Right now, we have four infectious disease vaccines in Phase 3 trials, and later this year, we expect important data from proof-of-concept studies in rare diseases and immuno-oncology," said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna.