The vaccine maker on Thursday reported $415.5 million in total revenue in the second quarter, lower than the analyst consensus of $458.6 million.
Novavax cut the top end of its 2024 revenue forecast on Thursday by $225 million in anticipation of lower sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company also reported disappointing second-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations.
Total revenue in Q2 was reported at $415.5 million, falling about $43 million short of analysts’ estimates. Product sales for the year were lowered from $400 million to $600 million down to $275 million to $375 million.
It’s been a rocky road for Novavax since February 2023 when the vaccine maker issued a candid warning to investors, expressing doubts about its ability to continue operations beyond February 2024. Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 shot—its only approved product—was beat to the market by both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccines.
However, the company has so far pulled through and removed the warning notice, with the help of a $1.2 billion deal with French drugmaker Sanofi, which will book sales of Novavax’s vaccine starting in 2025 while Novavax receives royalties on its sales plus those of COVID-19 and flu combination vaccines. The deal brought an infusion of cash into the struggling company.
Following the deal, Novavax issued a full-year revenue forecast of $970 million to $1.17 billion. However, with its Q2 results, the company has cut expectations to a total revenue range of $700 million to $800 million, indicating lower vaccine deliveries in 2024. The new forecast included the upfront payment, royalty and revenue from the Sanofi deal—$425 million compared to the $570 million expected under the agreement in May.
The deal with Sanofi has “significantly de-risked” Novavax’s stock, Jefferies analyst Roger Song wrote in a note to investors last month, “critically removing liquidity going concern and supporting near and long-term valuation creation.” Song said the deal brings limited visibility to Novavax but a “relatively certain” $700 million in cash with milestone payments related to the COVID-19 and COVID-Flu combination vaccines.
