Moderna Cuts Sales Forecast

Moderna Inc ($MRNA@US) has cut its 2021 sales forecast, saying on Thursday that it will need to trim those figures by as much as $5 billion. The company is struggling to increase the production of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The company is cutting sales targets that put it far behind competitors like Pfizer ($PFE@US), which had to increase its forecasts for the quarter. Moderna has been unable to scale its manufacturing, increasing production and shipping to customers across the world. It has been noted that there was a temporary issue caused by the expansion of its bottling facilities, leading to longer lead times for shopping. This means that some deliveries will fall into the early months of 2022. The firm now expects sales between $15 to $18 billion when it previously expected to see sales as high as $20 billion. Sales issues were also caused by Moderna’s priorities, specifically deliveries to low-income countries. With 10% of its total supply going to those nations, supply chain issues have slowed down the entire process. The COVID-19 vaccine hauled in $4.8 billion in the 3rd quarter, but analysts expected $5.85 billion, causing shares to tumble in early trading, losing a total of 11%.