July 31 (Reuters) – Moderna beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on Friday, benefiting from its long-term vaccine partnership with the UK government, while gearing up for the potential launch of its flu shot.
However, the company’s shares fell 5% in premarket trading after its experimental norovirus vaccine candidate missed the statistical benchmark for early success in an interim analysis of a late-stage study.
Moderna has said it expects to capitalize on partnerships with the governments of the UK, Canada and Australia, alongside the expansion of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, to support growth amid an uncertain U.S. regulatory environment for vaccines.
The U.S. FDA is set to decide on Moderna’s flu vaccine by August 5, after the agency first refused to accept its application under former Commissioner Marty Makary, only to reverse course and accept a revised application for review.
The company is betting that its flu vaccine and a future COVID-flu combination shot can help offset the decline from pandemic-era COVID-19 vaccine sales while demonstrating that its mRNA platform can support a durable, diversified respiratory-vaccine franchise.
The company reiterated its revenue growth expectation of up to 10% for the year, with roughly half of its revenue coming from the U.S.
Moderna said it expects about 55% of its second-half 2026 revenue to be recognized in the third quarter.
The company reported second-quarter revenue of $145 million, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $103 million, according to LSEG data.
Moderna reported a quarterly loss of $1.97 per share, smaller than analysts’ expectations of $2.08.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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