Moderna tanks 14% after COVID-19 vaccine maker cuts yearly sales outlook and misses 3rd-quarter expectations

Short-term supply constraints led Moderna to cut its 2022 revenue outlook to a range of $18 billion to $19 billion.

• Moderna shares fell as much as 14% on Thursday following the COVID vaccine maker's financial update.
• The company cut its 2022 revenue outlook to a range of $18 billion to $19 billion. 
• Third-quarter per-share earnings of $2.53 on total revenue of $3.36 billion missed Wall Street's projections. 

Moderna shares sharply dropped Thursday after the COVID vaccine maker reduced its 2022 sales guidance and delivered third-quarter financial results that fell short of Wall Street's targets. 

Shares fell by as much as 14% to $128 during premarket trade, the weakest price since October 24. The shares on a year-to-date basis had already fallen by 41%.  

The company forecast $18 billion to $19 billion in 2022 revenue from its coronavirus vaccine, lower than its previous outlook of around $21 billion. The vaccine is Moderna's sole product that's commercially available. 

The "delay of certain deliveries into 2023 due to short-term supply constraints" was cited as the reason for the lowered projection in Moderna's third-quarter report. 

Earnings fell by 67% to $2.53 a share and total revenue came in at $3.36 billion, down from $4.97 billion a year earlier. 

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $3.29 a share on revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter that ended on September 30. 

Moderna said quarterly product sales fell by 35% to $3.1 billion because of the timing of market authorizations for its vaccine boosters and the related manufacturing ramp-up.

The company said it's making progress on its respiratory vaccine pipeline, including potential vaccines against influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, which can cause lung and respiratory tract infections.