Novavax an offered upbeat sales view Tuesday and announced a 25% reduction in its workforce to help cut costs — and NVAX stock rocketed.
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.
On today's stock market, NVAX stock catapulted 27.8% to 9.52.
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 moving average, MarketSmith.com shows.
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