Moderna (MRNA) Q1 2024 earnings

Here's what Moderna reported for the first quarter compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts conducted by LSEG:

• Loss per share: $3.07 versus an expected loss of $3.58
• he won: $167 million versus an expected $97.5 million

The biotech company had first-quarter sales of $167 million, with Covid vaccine revenue down nearly 90% from the same period last year. Moderna reported revenue of $1.86 billion in the same period a year earlier.

About $100 million came from the United States, while $67 million came from international markets, especially in Latin America, Moderna CFO Jimmy Mock told CNBC in an interview.

The company said the revenue decline came in part from an expected move into the seasonal Covid vaccine market, where patients typically get their shots in the fall and winter.

Moderna reported a net loss of $1.18 billion, or $3.07 per share, in the first quarter. That compares to net income of $79 million, or 19 cents per share, reported in the same period last year.

The company reiterated its full-year 2024 sales guidance of about $4 billion, which includes RSV vaccine revenue. Notably, the company expects only $300 million of these sales to come during the first half of the year given that respiratory virus season typically falls in the latter half of the year.

Moderna said it expects to return to sales growth in 2025 and break even by 2026, with the launch of new products.

For the first quarter, Mock said the company was “further encouraged by what we're seeing from a production perspective” of higher sales of its Covid vaccine.

Cost of sales was $96 million for the fourth quarter, down 88% from the same period last year. That includes a $30 million write-off of unused doses of the Covid vaccine and $27 million in charges related to the company's efforts to shrink its manufacturing footprint, among other costs.

R&D expenses for the first quarter decreased 6% to $1.1 billion compared to the same period in 2023. This decrease was primarily due to lower payments to partners in 2024 and lower clinical development and manufacturing expenses, including lower spending on clinical trials for vaccines. The company's Covid, RSV and seasonal influenza vaccines.

Meanwhile, selling, general and administrative expenses for the period decreased 10% to $274 million compared to the first quarter of 2023. SG&A expenses typically include the costs of promoting, selling and delivering the company's products and services.

The company said the reduction was due in part to its investments in “digital business capabilities” and an increased focus on using artificial intelligence technologies to streamline operations.

Last month, Moderna Announce A partnership with AI heavyweight OpenAI aims to automate almost every business process at the biotech company.

Moderna has been working with OpenAI for the past year, Mok told CNBC. He added that 60% to 70% of the company currently uses AI-powered chatbots to do work.

So far, Moderna has been able to boost investor sentiment about its path forward post-Covid. The company's shares have risen more than 10% this year thanks to increased confidence around its pipeline and messenger RNA platform, the technology used in the Covid vaccine.

Moderna currently has 45 products in development, several of which are in late-stage trials. They include Moderna's combination of vaccines targeting Covid and influenza, which could receive approval as early as 2025.

Moderna is also developing a personalized cancer vaccine in collaboration with Merck and shots for latent viruses, among other products.