Novavax (NVAX) Q4 Earnings & Sales Miss Estimates, Stock Tanks
Novavax, Inc. NVAX reported a fourth-quarter 2023 loss of $1.44 cents per share, much wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 49 cents. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss of $2.28 per share.
Revenues in the quarter amounted to $291.3 million, also missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $334.0 million. The top line declined 18.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Quarter in Detail
In the reported quarter, the company recorded $251.4 million in product sales, reflecting a decrease of 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. The reported product sales beat our model estimates of $246.5 million.
Grant revenues declined 45.4% year over year to $37.9 million for the same period.
Novavax recorded $1.9 million of revenues from royalties and adjuvant sales to licensing partners compared with the year-ago quarter’s revenues of $.04 million.
In the reported quarter, research and development (R&D) expenses were $165 million, down almost 36% year over year. The downside can be attributed to a reduction in clinical and manufacturing spending during the quarter.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were down 4.3% year over year to $155 million.
As of Dec 31, 2023, Novavax had $584 million of cash and cash equivalents compared with $666 million as of Sep 30, 2023. The company sold its common stock through at-the-market offerings, wherein it raised $110 million in net proceeds during the quarter.
Shares of Novavax were down 26.7% on Feb 28 following the announcement of the earnings result. The stock has plunged 36.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s decrease of 6.1%.
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Full-Year Results
In 2023, Novavax generated revenues of $983.7 million compared with $1.9 billion recorded in 2022.
In the same period, the company recorded a loss of $5.41 per share compared with a loss of $8.42 in 2022.
2024 Guidance
Novavax expects total revenues in the range of $800 million to $1 billion in 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric currently stands at $1.11 billion.
In the first quarter of 2024, total revenues are expected to be around $100 million.
Novavax’s shares were down as investors were not too impressed with the timid revenue outlook.
The company expects its full-year combined R&D and SG&A expenses in the band of $700-$800 million.
Pipeline Updates
In January 2024, Novavax announced that it has decided to reduce its global workforce by 12%. This includes a 9% reduction in its full-time employees, and the remainder is comprised of contractors and consultants.
Including this reduction, Novavax’s workforce has been reduced by approximately 30% compared with the end of the first quarter of 2023.
In November 2023, the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing to NVX-CoV2601, Novavax’s updated protein-based COVID vaccine, for use in individuals aged 12 years and older.
In October 2023, the FDA granted emergency use authorization (“EUA”) to NVX-CoV2601 in individuals aged 12 years and older. Following the EUA, Novavax’s updated vaccine is the only non-mRNA vaccine option available to people in the United States.
This apart, Novavax is planning to start a pivotal phase III study on its investigational COVID-19-influenza combination vaccine in the second half of 2024, with the intent to commercially market the same in 2026.
Novavax, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Novavax, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Novavax, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Novavax currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector are Indivior PLC INDV, Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. VNDA and Puma Biotechnology, Inc. PBYI, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Indivior’s 2024 earnings per share have improved from $1.83 to $1.95. In the past year, shares of INDV have risen 12.6%.
Indivior’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing three quarters. INDV delivered an average earnings surprise of 48.06%.
In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ 2024 bottom line has improved from a loss of 46 cents per share to earnings of 1 cent. In the past year, shares of VNDA have plunged 30.4%.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing three quarters. VNDA delivered an average earnings surprise of 92.88%.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Puma Biotechnology’s 2024 earnings per share have improved from 69 cents to 71 cents. In the past year, shares of PBYI have risen 71%.
Earnings of Puma Biotechnology beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing the same on the remaining occasion. PBYI delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 76.55%.
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