Moderna stock jumped Thursday, despite growing losses, after the Covid vaccine-maker reported more than double the revenue Wall Street predicted.
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The company also called for $18.4 billion in full-year 2021 sales of its Covid vaccine. That shattered forecasts for $11 billion in revenue. Further, the company said it plans to make 700 million doses of its vaccine this year, while still working to bring that capacity up to 1 billion. In 2022, Moderna (MRNA) expects to boost capacity to 1.4 billion doses.
Chief Executive Stephane Bancel called 2020 “a historic year for Moderna.” Moderna won emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine. It trailed Pfizer (PFE) and its partner BioNTech (BNTX) by a week in the U.S. The vaccine is Moderna’s first commercial product. It relies on messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology.
“It is encouraging and humbling that more than 32 million doses of our vaccine have been administered in the U.S. and that millions of people around the world have been vaccinated with our vaccine to date,” Bancel said in a written statement.
On the stock market today, Moderna stock rose 2.5% to 148.38.
Moderna Stock Rises On Strong Sales Beat
During the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Moderna brought in $570.75 billion in sales. That crushed the average estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet for $279.4 million. Losses grew to 69 cents per share after a 37-cent per-share loss in the year-ago period. Analysts expected a 34-cent loss.
The lion’s share of revenue still came from grants — primarily its award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to advance its Covid vaccine. But for the first time Moderna had product sales, of $199.87 million. The company began recognizing Covid vaccine sales in December.
Prior to the authorization of its Covid vaccine, Moderna was limited by the need for capital raises and keeping several years of cash on hand to manage financing risk, CEO Bancel said.
“We now know that mRNA vaccines can be highly efficacious and authorized for use, and we are now a cash-flow generating commercial company,” he said.
2021 Guidance Easily Tops Forecasts
As a result, Moderna now expects $18.4 billion in product sales this year. This is based on already inked advance purchase agreements for its Covid vaccine. Additional discussions are ongoing for 2021 and 2022, the company said in its news release.
That handily beat analyst estimates for $11 billion in full-year 2021 sales. Moderna stock analysts also expected adjusted earnings of $15 per share. In 2020, Moderna lost $1.96 per share on $803.4 million in sales. Losses widened, but sales skyrocketed over 2019 numbers.
Moderna stock has a bullish Relative Strength Rating of 97 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Digital. This puts Moderna stock in the top 3% of all stocks in terms of 12-month performance.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
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