By Julie Steenhuysen and Siddhi Mahatole
May 1 (Reuters) – Moderna surpassed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue on Friday, helped by better-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine in international markets, sending its shares up nearly 8% in premarket trading.
International revenue came in at $311 million, versus $78 million in U.S. markets, as the vaccine maker leveraged partnerships in the UK, Canada and Australia.
“So our story has really become a more balanced international versus U.S. story,” Moderna Chief Financial Officer Jamey Mock said in an interview with Reuters.
Sweeping changes to U.S. vaccine policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, have led to reduced vaccine use and reshaped the regulatory landscape for companies developing new shots.
“We hope much of that is behind us,” Mock said, adding that the company is looking for a more stable COVID market in 2026 in the U.S.
Moderna’s first-quarter revenue more than tripled to $389 million from a year earlier, exceeding analysts’ estimate of nearly $228 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It has secured an August 5 decision date from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its mRNA-based flu vaccine, having resolved a dispute with the regulator, which initially rejected its application citing flaws in trial design.
The company is expanding beyond infectious disease as demand for COVID vaccines eases in the post-pandemic era, with key late-stage date expected for a norovirus vaccine, a promising individualized cancer vaccine it is developing with partner Merck, and a treatment for a rare metabolic disorder.
Moderna reiterated its 2026 revenue growth forecast of up to 10%, with roughly half of its revenue coming from the U.S., down from 62% last year.
RBC Capital analyst Luca Issi said Moderna’s full-year revenue is weighted toward the back half of the year, with only 15% expected in first half.
Moderna expects second-quarter revenue of $50 million to $100 million, evenly split between the U.S. and international markets.
The company posted a net loss per share of $3.40 for the first quarter, compared with analysts’ estimate of a loss of $3.96.
This included $2.22 per share in charges related to the settlement of a patent dispute with Roivant Sciences’ unit Genevant and Arbutus Biopharma over the lipid nanoparticle technology used in its COVID shot.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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