Novavax (NVAX) an offered upbeat sales view Tuesday and announced a 25% reduction in its workforce to help cut costs — and NVAX stock rocketed.
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Despite a lag in first-quarter sales, Novavax expects to bring in $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion in sales this year. That easily beat expectations for $831.6 million. The lion’s share of that will come from its Covid vaccine. The remainder will come from grant revenue.
Novavax sells just one product: the Covid shot called Nuvaxovid. But the company says it’s on track to deliver an updated shot this fall. Novavax uses a protein-based technology, which it hopes appeals to people uncomfortable with the newer messenger RNA vaccines sold by rivals Pfizer and Moderna.
In morning trading on today’s stock market, NVAX stock catapulted 40.1% near 10.40.
NVAX Stock: Losses Continue, But Beat Expectations
Novavax’s first-quarter report came in mixed. The company lost $3.41 per share, which flipped from a year-earlier gain of $2.56, according to FactSet. That was Novavax’s only profitable quarter on record. But for this year’s first quarter, analysts called for a slightly deeper loss of $3.46 a share.
Sales were light, however. Novavax generated $81 million, which plummeted 88.5% and missed calls for $87.6 million. Novavax says the first quarter represents a shift to a seasonal demand pattern. The outlook assumes Novavax’s sales will be stronger in the second, third and fourth quarters.
Now, Novavax is bracing for a global restructuring to cut costs and extend its cash. It lists launching an updated Covid vaccine, reducing the rate of its spending and using the protein-based platform to create new medicines as its priorities. Part of the restructuring involves cutting its workforce by 25%.
“Combined with our focus on revenue generation from Nuvaxovid and management of our current liabilities, these measures should strengthen our cash position and our potential for the long-term growth and stability of Novavax,” Chief Executive John Jacobs said in a written statement.
Early Tuesday, NVAX stock surged well above its 50-day…
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