Even though the COVID headlines may no longer be as prominent in the daily news, Moderna’s plan to remain competitive and relevant still includes the need for upgraded boosters. Some businesses continue to demonstrate their ability to quickly adapt in a corporate environment that is constantly changing to address evolving health problems. Now well-known worldwide for its COVID vaccines that it rolled out in millions during the years of the pandemic, Moderna has gone on to shock Wall Street once more. This time, the biotech company’s new cost-cutting initiatives are keeping it afloat, in addition to its robust booster sales.
Moderna is lifted by strong booster sales, but shares are hammered by a forecast decrease
Moderna MRNA.O topped Wall Street sales expectations and reported a lower-than-expected second-quarter loss on Friday, driven by robust Spring COVID booster demand and aggressive cost cuts. However, its shares fell more than 4% in premarket trading after the company lowered its 2025 sales forecast to $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion, cutting $300 million from the top end, as UK revenue deliveries shifted into early 2026.
Moderna said 40% to 50% of that revenue will be recognised in the third quarter of 2025, with the rest expected in the fourth. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based vaccine maker reported quarterly revenue of $142 million, a 41% drop from last year, but still ahead of analyst estimates of $112.9 million, according to LSEG data.
What are the factors that are keeping these COVID boosters in demand?
- New Formulas: Moderna keeps modifying its injections to take aim at novel strains.
- International Orders: Contracts for seasonal boosters are being renewed in a number of nations.
- Public Health Advice: Health organisations continue to advise vulnerable populations to remain immunised.
- General fear: Although it is “gone,” there are those people who are still holding on to the idea that COVID can come back, and it is better to be safe than sorry, than to suffer the consequences later.
On an adjusted basis, Moderna posted a quarterly loss of $2.13 per share, less than $2.97 a share loss that analysts had projected. Moderna’s finance chief, James Mock, attributed the results to spring COVID booster shot uptake, which was down 11% year-over-year but higher than anticipated, and $800 million in cost cuts in the first half of 2025.
The Spikevax COVID-19 shot delivered $114 million in sales, beating the expected $87 million for the quarter, but a far cry from its 2022 pandemic peak, when the vaccine brought in $18.4 billion. The company did not disclose sales for mRESVIA, its RSV vaccine, saying they were negligible. Analysts had expected $1 million in quarterly sales for that shot.
Beyond COVID: What’s next for the future of Moderna?
The next big product is the most important question for investors, and they want to know that there are future products in development that will sustain the company’s profitability. The business does not wish to be perceived as a “COVID-only” business indefinitely. Leaders are pointing to a larger pipeline that has vaccinations for flu, RSV, and other viruses because of this. We know COVID is spread by physical contact, and Paris reopened the Seine for swimming after a century‑long ban, hoping that no diseases would be spread in the process.
Moderna said it plans to cut operating costs by $400 million in 2025, bringing them down to $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion. It had previously projected cuts of $4.7 billion to $5 billion by 2027. The company on Thursday said it would cut around 10% of its global workforce, shrinking to under 5,000 employees by year’s end, as part of its move to trim operating expenses. Mock said the job cuts would affect nearly every function at the company. Furthermore, things like extreme heat expose cracks in public health and safety systems and then, obviously, include COVID.
GCN.com/Reuters.
