Moderna stock falls more than 10% as it slashes guidance on low EU sales, tough U.S. vaccine market

Moderna on Thursday reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations but slashed its full-year sales guidance, citing lower expected sales in Europe, a "competitive environment" for respiratory vaccines in the U.S. and the potential for deferred international revenue into 2025. 

The biotech company now expects 2024 product revenue to come in between $3 billion to $3.5 billion, down from a previous guidance of $4 billion. 

Shares of the company fell 10% in premarket trading Thursday.

The company has started shipping doses of its vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, called mRESVIA, in the U.S. following its approval in May for older adults. It's Moderna's second-ever commercially available product after its Covid vaccine, which has seen demand plunge as the world emerges from the pandemic and relies less on protective shots and treatments.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said there has been "more intensity of competition" for both RSV and Covid vaccines. He noted that mRESVIA is the third RSV shot to enter the market following jabs from Pfizer and GSK, the latter of which dominated the market last year.

He added that "we've been having quite intense discussions with governments across Europe" to get Covid vaccine supply from Moderna.

But "some countries, as recently as of last week, have told us that because of a very tight budget … they just don't have the capacity to buy more vaccine than they need because they already have" another contract, Bancel said.

He is referring to the European Union's massive renegotiated Covid vaccine supply contract with Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. He also pointed to the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is straining government budgets. 

Still, Moderna expects to return to sales growth