Vaccine Makers Shed $28 Billion in Value After Moderna Miss

(Bloomberg) -- The leading Covid-19 vaccine developers are under pressure Thursday morning after an underwhelming earnings report from Moderna Inc. and lackluster expectations for sales of its Covid shot in the remainder of the year.

Early trading showed that biotechs including Moderna, Pfizer Inc., BioNTech SE and Novavax Inc. erased $28 billion in market value as jitters about the outlook for sales of the inoculations spread across Wall Street.

The disappointing results from Moderna contrast with strong sales for Pfizer and partner BioNTech’s shot, which is projected to deliver $29 billion in revenue next year. Today’s blow to the sector also comes a month after the group spiraled lower when a trial of Merck & Co.’s experimental pill showed it cut the risk of hospitalization and death in half.

Moderna shares tumble as much as 17% at the market open to send shares to the lowest level since mid-July while BioNTech and Novavax each drop more than 4%.

Investors are grappling with uncertainty over whether billions of dollars in sales will materialize as global economies reopen and other therapies are developed. 

Wall Street analysts forecast Moderna’s Covid vaccine will deliver nearly $20 billion in sales next year before tapering to $7.5 billion in 2024. However, the range of expectations is notable with a more than $20 billion spread between the highest and lowest estimates for 2022.

Investors will get another look at expectations for vaccine stocks when Novavax reports results after the bell Thursday. BioNTech’s third-quarter earnings are expected before the stock market opens on Nov. 9.

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