Moderna Inc.’s stock MRNA rose 1.8% premarket Thursday, after the biotech blew past estimates for first-quarter earnings, even as profit and revenue fell sharply amid dwindling demand for COVID vaccines. The biotech posted net income of $79 million, or 19 cents a share, for the quarter, down from $3.657 billion, or $8.58 a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell to $1.828 billion from $5.925 billion a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for a loss per share of $1.75 and revenue of $1.178 billion. “We had a strong first quarter, with $1.9 billion in revenue, clearly indicating that we are on our way to deliver on the $5 billion of signed Advance Purchase Agreements for 202,” CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. “In addition, we are encouraged by the progress of new COVID-19 vaccine contracts in the U.S. for this fall with pharmacy chains, hospital networks and multiple U.S. government agencies.” The company is also holding talks in Japan and the EU. Moderna is expecting six major vaccine launches from respiratory franchise, meaning COVID, flu, RSV and combination, wit expected annual sales of $8 billion to $15 billion by 2027. The stock has fallen 28% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 6.5%.
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