Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) watched its shares rocket first thing Wednesday, as the drug maker sold $5.9 billion of its COVID vaccine in the first quarter, blowing out revenue and profit expectations.
Moderna maintained its full-year guidance of $21 billion in COVID vaccine sales. The sales guidance is based on signed agreements with governments and does not include any orders from the U.S., so the final number could come in higher.
Moderna’s first-quarter vaccine sales more than tripled over the same period last year, when it reported $1.7 billion in sales shortly after the shots first rolled out. The COVID vaccine for adults ages 18 and over, Spikevax, is the company’s only commercially available product.
Moderna reported $3.66 billion in net income for the quarter, a threefold increase over the $1.2 billion it reported in the same period last year. Adjusted EPS proved to be $8.58 per share, vs. $5.21 expected, on revenue of $6.07 billion, shattering expectations of $4.62 billion
CEO Stephane Bancel said he expects Moderna to book even stronger vaccine sales in the second half of the year as governments order more shots to get ready for fall vaccination campaigns.
Bancel said Moderna expects to receive regulatory approval in late summer for a redesigned vaccine that targets the mutations on the omicron variant in addition to the original strain that emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019.
MRNA shares jumped $3.63, or 2.5%, soon after the opening bell Wednesday to $150.17.