Shares of Moderna, Inc. jumped 4% in morning trading as the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer reported strong 4Q revenues of $571 million versus $14 million in 4Q FY19. Analysts were expecting revenues of $279.4 million.
However, Moderna’s (MRNA) net loss per share widened to $0.69 versus $0.37 in 4Q FY19. Analysts were expecting a loss per share of $0.35.
Moderna’s CEO Stéphane Bancel said, “It is encouraging and humbling that more than 32 million doses of our [Covid-19] vaccine have been administered in the U.S. and that millions of people around the world have been vaccinated with our vaccine to date. 2020 demonstrated the power of harnessing mRNA to make medicines and also demonstrated the speed and scalability of the Moderna platform that we have built over the last 10 years.”
“I believe that 2021 will be an inflection year for Moderna. We previously believed that mRNA would lead to approved medicines, and we were limited in our ambitions by the need for regular capital raises and keeping several years of cash to manage financing risk. We now know that mRNA vaccines can be highly efficacious and authorized for use, and we are a cash-flow generating commercial company.” Bancel added.
The rise in revenue was fuelled by grant revenue and product sales. MRNA received $483 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in April last year.
The company has also signed advance purchase agreements (APAs) for for delivery of the vaccine in 2021 for which it expects to receive $18.4 billion. MRNA stated that it is holding additional discussions with several governments to scheduled deliveries in this year and the next. (See Moderna Inc stock analysis on TipRanks)
Following the earnings announcement, Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison reiterated a Hold and a price target of $215 on the stock. Harrison said, “Mgt. continues to make new capital investments to increase manufacturing capacity. Based on the 100 μg dose, mgt. increased the low end of their 2021 manufacturing goal to 700M (from 600M)…”
“If the variant vaccine booster is efficacious at 50 μg, then they will have capacity to produce ~2.8B (50 μg) booster doses in 2022. To date, mgt. has shipped ~55M doses to the US and ~4M from their ex-US supply chain, which continues to scale-up,” Harrison added.
The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic on the stock with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 6 Buys, 4 Holds and 2 Sells. The average analyst price target of $172.09 implies around 11% upside potential to current levels.
According to the TipRanks Smart Score system, MRNA scores a low 3 out of 10 indicating that the stock is likely to underperform the market.
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