MRNA Q2 Earnings Meet, Stock Down on Norovirus Vaccine Setback

Moderna MRNA reported a second-quarter 2026 loss of $1.97 per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The loss narrowed 7.5% from $2.13 a year ago.

Total revenues in the second quarter were $145 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $126.7 million. The metric rose 2% year over year, driven by higher sales in ex-U.S. markets.

However, Moderna's shares declined in pre-market trading today after the company announced that a phase III study on its norovirus vaccine failed to meet the statistical criteria for early success at an interim analysis.

Year to date, the stock has rallied 96% compared with the industry's 3% growth.Zacks Investment Research

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Moderna's Revenue Mix Reflects Uneven Vaccine Demand

About 60% of total revenues were generated from the domestic market, with the remainder coming from the international markets. Revenues totaled $87 million in the domestic market and $58 million internationally.

Overall product sales were down 17.5% year over year to $94 million, as lower COVID-19 vaccine sales in the United States and South America weighed on commercial performance during the reported quarter.

The company generated sales from three marketed vaccines during the second quarter — the COVID-19 vaccines Spikevax and mNexspike, and the RSV vaccine mResvia. Though Moderna did not disclose an individual breakdown of product sales, the majority of the figure was generated from COVID-19 vaccines.

The company reported $51 million from other revenues, which climbed 82% year over year. Growth was supported by deliveries in the UK under a long-term strategic government partnership, along with higher stand-ready manufacturing and collaboration revenues.

MRNA's Operating Costs Continue to Decline

Cost of sales declined 22% year over year to $93 million. The decline primarily reflected lower unused manufacturing capacity costs, supported by productivity improvements and operating efficiencies. The reduction helped narrow the company's quarterly operating loss despite continued pressure on product sales.

Research and development expenses fell 7% to $651 million, primarily driven by lower clinical development costs following the wind-down of several late-stage programs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined 6% year over year to $216 million. Management attributed the decrease to continued spending discipline across the organization.

MRNA Improves 2026 Cost Outlook

Moderna reiterated its target of delivering up to 10% revenue growth from 2025 levels. The company expects its 2026 revenues to be divided approximately equally between the United States and international markets.

Story Continues

Management expects about 55% of second-half 2026 revenues to be recognized in the third quarter, reflecting the seasonal concentration of demand for respiratory vaccines.

The company lowered its 2026 cost-of-sales forecast to approximately $1.7 billion from $1.8 billion. The estimate includes the $0.9 billion non-recurring litigation settlement charge.

R&D expenses are now expected to be approximately $2.9 billion, down from the prior projection of $3 billion.

SG&A expenses are still forecast at about $1 billion, while capital expenditures are expected to be between $0.2 billion and $0.3 billion.

Though Moderna paid $950 million earlier this month in relation to a litigation settlement with Genevant Sciences and Arbutus Biopharma ABUS over COVID-19 patent disputes, it raised its projected year-end cash and investments range to $4.7-$5.2 billion from $4.5-$5 billion. The improvement reflects anticipated operating cost savings.

MRNA's Recent Pipeline Updates

Though the late-stage study evaluating Moderna's norovirus vaccine candidate did not meet the statistical criteria for early success at the interim analysis, the study remains ongoing and blinded. The company is preparing to enroll an additional cohort, which extends the development path and adds uncertainty to one of its late-stage infectious disease programs.

Regulatory filings for the seasonal influenza vaccine are also under review in the United States and Europe. A final decision from the FDA is expected by Aug. 5, 2026. If approved, Moderna intends to commercially launch the vaccine for the 2026/2027 vaccination season under the brand name mFlusiva.

An important candidate in Moderna's pipeline is intismeran autogene, a personalized cancer therapy which is being developed in collaboration with Merck MRK. The companies are already evaluating intismeran in four pivotal phase III studies — one in the melanoma indication and the other three in the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) space. Data from the melanoma study is expected later this year. Moderna and Merck are developing the therapy in several mid-stage studies across multiple indications, including high-risk bladder cancers, first-line metastatic melanoma, adjuvant renal cell carcinoma and first-line metastatic squamous NSCLC.

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MRNA's Zacks Rank

Moderna currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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