Moderna Q3 Earnings Beat, Stock Up on Revised '25 Spending Plans

Moderna MRNA incurred a loss of 51 cents per share in the third quarter of 2025, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.15. In the year-ago period, the company had reported earnings per share (EPS) of 3 cents.Total revenues in the quarter were $1.02 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $860 million. Yet, this metric declined 45% year over year, owing to lower net product sales.More on MRNA’s EarningsModerna currently has three marketed vaccines in its portfolio — the COVID-19 vaccines Spikevax and mNexspike, and the RSV vaccine mResvia. Product sales were down nearly 47% year over year to $973 million.The company recorded $971 million from the sales of its COVID-19 vaccines during the quarter, down 46% year over year. This downtick reflects lower vaccination rates compared to the year-ago period and the continued normalization of COVID-19 into a seasonal commercial market.mResvia sales stood at $2 million during the quarter, which significantly missed our model estimate of $30 million. The figure declined 80% year over year, likely due to intense competition from RSV vaccines Arexvy, marketed by GSK plc GSK, and Abrysvo, marketed by Pfizer PFE.Moderna generated $43 million from grants, collaborations, licensing and royalty revenues in the quarter, up 2% year over year. The company usually earns collaboration revenues from agreements with several big pharma/biotech companies, including Merck MRK and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.Operating Costs Decline Amid Streamlining EffortsSelling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $268 million, down 5% year over year. This downside was primarily due to reductions in consulting and external services across multiple functions.Research & development (R&D) expenses were down 30% to $801 million, reflecting continued investment prioritization and efficiency gains in executing the clinical development of its pipeline.MRNA Revises ’25 OutlookModerna revised its total revenue guidance for the full year. It now expects total revenues in the range of $1.6-$2.0 billion, compared to the previously guided range of $1.5-$2.2 billion.The company also lowered the guidance for R&D expenses during the quarter, now expecting to incur between $3.3 billion and $3.4 billion (previous guidance: $3.6-$3.8 billion). Moderna reiterated its projections for SG&A expenses and capital expenditures to be around $1.1 billion and $0.3 billion, respectively.Shares of Moderna were up 10% in pre-market trading today, likely due to the company’s cost-cutting measures. These reductions highlight the company’s efforts to streamline pipeline development and prioritize programs with clearer commercial potential. The sharper focus on efficiency also helped Moderna raise its expectations for year-end 2025 liquidity. The company now anticipates ending 2025 with cash, cash equivalents and investments in the range of $6.5-$7.0 billion, up from its earlier forecast of roughly $6 billion.Year to date, the stock has lost 43% against the industry’s 11% growth.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchMRNA’s Recent Pipeline UpdatesModerna is developing more than 40 mRNA-based investigational candidates across different stages of clinical studies, targeting various indications, including cancer.Last month, Moderna announced that its pivotal phase III study evaluating mRNA-1647 failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint, prompting the company to discontinue development of the candidate for CMV prevention. However, mRNA-1647 continues to be studied in an ongoing mid-stage study in bone marrow transplant patients.Earlier this year, the company reported that a phase III efficacy study (P304) showed that its standalone influenza vaccine candidate, mRNA-1010, achieved superior relative vaccine efficacy to an approved flu shot marketed by GSK. Based on these results, Moderna intends to submit regulatory filings for this candidate in the United States and Europe by January 2026.The P304 study results also strengthen the case for resubmitting the regulatory filing for mRNA-1083, an investigational combination vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza. In May, Moderna voluntarily withdrew a filing with the FDA for mRNA-1083 after the agency requested additional efficacy data for the flu component. This candidate integrates the company’s COVID-19 shot with mRNA-1010. Moderna is currently awaiting further guidance from the FDA on the refiling.An important candidate in the company’s pipeline is intismeran autogene, a personalized cancer therapy which is being developed in collaboration with Merck. The companies are evaluating the therapy in three pivotal phase III studies — one in the melanoma indication and the other two in the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) space. It is also being evaluated in separate mid-stage studies for high-risk bladder cancers (both muscle-invasive and non-muscle-invasive), first-line metastatic melanoma and adjuvant renal cell carcinoma. Moderna and Merck recently launched a new phase II study evaluating the therapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic squamous NSCLC.Moderna, Inc. Price  Moderna, Inc. price | Moderna, Inc. QuoteMRNA’s Zacks RankModerna currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 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Click to get this free report GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (GSK): Free Stock Analysis Report Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report Moderna, Inc. (MRNA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks