By Josh Nathan-Kazis and Adam Clark

Moderna stock was falling on Thursday after the company reported a first-quarter loss and a slide in revenue and laid out plans to cut its operating costs by around $1.5 billion.

Moderna reported a quarterly loss of $2.52 per share on revenue of $108 million. Analysts had expected a loss of $3.12 per share on sales of $106 million.

Revenue was down from $167 million in same quarter last year, driven by lower vaccination rates as Covid shots decline.

Moderna backed its revenue outlook of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion for 2025 overall. Analysts forecast full-year sales of $2.09 billion.

"Looking ahead, we are reiterating our 2025 financial framework and announcing a cost structure that is expected to reduce our annual operating expenses by approximately $1.5 billion by 2027. With several Phase 3 readouts approaching and continued momentum toward 10 product approvals, we remain confident in Moderna's long-term outlook," CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.

Moderna shares were down 0.6% in premarket trading.

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Moderna, the bloodied Covid-era prizefighter of the healthcare sector, stumbles toward its next earnings report on Thursday morning, with investors increasingly worried it's headed for knockout.

Moderna shares are down more than 30% this year, and around 75% over the past 12 months. The company has a packed pipeline, but sales of its Covid-19 shot have evaporated, and its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine has thus far been a commercial flop.

The stock has developed a marked tendency toward wild price swings: As Barron's reported in late March, Moderna shares at the time had moved 10% or more on nine different trading days in the prior twelve months.

The company's cash hoard, once reported at nearly $20 billion, has been seeping away, and Moderna has said it will be down to $6 billion by the end of the year. Investors have worried that the company may need to raise capital, diluting the holdings of current shareholders. Moderna has insisted that it won't need to raise new cash, and that it can keep cutting costs if revenues fall short.

Worsening the situation is the ascent of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the Health and Human Services secretary. Kennedy is a prominent vaccine skeptic, and there have been signs of a shift in U.S. vaccine policy in recent months. What's more, Republican legislators have targeted messenger RNA-based vaccines like Moderna's in state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress.

That all adds up to trouble for Moderna, which has bet its future on an expanded line of mRNA-based vaccines and cancer treatments.

For the first quarter, analysts expect Moderna to report a loss of $3.12 per share on sales of $106 million, and to report cash holdings of $8.8 billion, according to FactSet.

The company will hold a call for investors at 8 a.m. Eastern on Thursday.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com

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May 01, 2025 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT)

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