(Reuters) – Moderna reported a surprise fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by lower costs and deferred payments, and unveiled a commercial roadmap for its experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.
Moderna shares jumped 8% to $94.68 (87.28 euros) in pre-market trading on Wall Street.
The American laboratory recorded a profit of $217 million in the fourth quarter, or 55 cents per share, well above the expectations of analysts who expected a loss of 97 cents per share, according to LSEG data.
The company beat its own forecasts thanks to unexpected deferred revenue of $600 million and cost savings of about $300 million, Chief Financial Officer James Mock said in an interview.
“Our restructuring was largely complete at the end of the third quarter, but there is still much work to be done to increase productivity,” he added.
Moderna reported $2.8 billion in fourth-quarter sales for its COVID-19 vaccine, its only commercial product, a 43% decline from 2022, in line with analyst expectations.
The group said it expects U.S. approval for its RSV vaccine, called mRNA-1345, by May 12 and also plans to launch it in Germany and Australia this year.
Analysts estimate that this vaccine will bring in $280 million for the laboratory in 2024.
(Reporting Patrick Wingrove in New York and Leroy Leo in Bangalore, Augustin Turpin, editing by Kate Entringer)
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