Better-than-expected Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine sales exceeded Wall Street’s second-quarter forecasts.
The Spikevax vaccine brought in $4.53 billion during the quarter, according to the company. According to FactSet, analysts expected around $3.6 billion.
Moderna stock rose on Wednesday after the company announced another $3 billion share repurchase plan.
Moderna’s vaccine sales in the second quarter were down from nearly $6 billion in the first quarter of the year when a virus outbreak in the United States prompted more people to seek protection.
However, sales may resume later this year.
For a fall booster campaign, Moderna has developed an updated version of its vaccine that combines the original shot with protection against the omicron variant.
Last week, the company announced a deal with the US government to purchase 66 million doses of the booster shot for up to $1.74 billion. The government can also purchase additional doses.
Aside from grants and money from collaborations, the COVID-19 vaccine is Moderna’s main source of revenue. In the second quarter, total revenue increased by 9% to $4.75 billion.
However, the vaccine maker’s operating expenses increased 78% to $2.3 billion, as it has several products in late-stage clinical trials, the most expensive phase of research.
In the third quarter, Moderna had $499 million in inventory write-downs related to vaccine doses that had exceeded or were expected to exceed their shelf lives before being used. The company also reported another loss and an expense for unused manufacturing capacity, owing to a “significant reduction” in expected COVAX vaccine-sharing program deliveries.
In the second quarter, net income fell 21% to $2.2 billion, with earnings totaling $5.24 per share.
According to FactSet, analysts expected earnings per share of $4.58 on revenue of $4.1 billion.
Moderna announced on Wednesday that its board of directors has authorized an additional $3 billion in share repurchases to return capital to shareholders. Since the end of last year’s fourth quarter, the company has repurchased 16 million shares. It has approximately $1 billion remaining on another $3 billion repurchase program announced in February.
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