Moderna Burns Cash, Suffers Fresh Vaccine Setback

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) on Friday reported a second-quarter loss of $1.97 per share, beating the consensus loss of $2.10 per share.

The COVID-19 vaccine maker reported sales of $145 million, better than the Wall Street estimate of $102.998 million.

Lower COVID vaccine sales in the U.S. and South America were offset by deliveries in the U.K. under a long-term strategic government partnership and higher stand-ready manufacturing and collaboration revenue.

Revenue was $87 million in the U.S. and $58 million in international markets.

R&D Spending Declines as Moderna Advances Pipeline

R&D expenses for the second quarter of 2026 were $651 million, a 7% decrease year over year, primarily driven by lower clinical development costs following the wind-down of several late-stage programs.

Cash, cash equivalents and investments as of June 30, 2026, were $6.9 billion, compared to $7.5 billion as of March 31, 2026.

The decrease primarily reflected cash used to fund operations, continued investment in research and development, and advancement of its pipeline.

The company subsequently paid $950 million in July 2026 related to the litigation settlement announced in the first quarter of 2026.

Moderna Reaffirms 2026 Sales Guidance

Moderna affirmed its fiscal 2026 sales guidance of $2.138 billion compared to the consensus of $2.089 billion.

The company is targeting up to 10% year-over-year growth and expects the 2026 revenue split to be approximately 50% U.S. and approximately 50% international.

Moderna expects approximately 55% of its second half 2026 revenue to be recognized in the third quarter.

Flu Vaccine Decision Nears as Norovirus Program Continues

The company anticipates potential approval of its fifth product with the August 5 PDUFA date for mFLUSIVA, the company’s seasonal influenza vaccine candidate.

On Friday, Moderna also said its norovirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1403, did not meet statistical criteria for early success at the Phase 3 interim analysis, and the company is preparing to enroll an additional cohort.

MRNA Stock Price Activity: Moderna shares were down 2.68% at $56.37 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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