In a recent financial disclosure, BioNTech SE has unveiled a wider-than-expected loss for the second quarter of the year, which has been attributed to a notable decline in global sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. This downturn reflects the ongoing challenges posed by reduced demand for pandemic-related vaccinations.
For the June quarter, BioNTech reported a loss per share of 3.36 euros ($3.68). This figure stands in stark contrast to the previous year's loss of 0.79 euros per share, and significantly deviates from the consensus estimate on Capital IQ, which projected a loss of only 2.01 euros per share. The company’s revenue plummeted to 128.7 million euros, down from 167.7 million euros in the same period last year, failing to meet the expectations of analysts who had estimated revenues of approximately 135.7 million euros.
As a consequence of these disappointing figures, BioNTech’s shares, which are traded on the Nasdaq, experienced a decline of 5.8% in premarket trading. The primary driver behind this drop in sales has been attributed to lower revenue generation from BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with Pfizer Inc.
(PFE). During a conference call, Chief Financial Officer Jens Holstein expressed that the company’s second-quarter revenues are reflective of the current demand trends within the seasonal endemic COVID-19 vaccine market. He emphasized, “I expect it to be the low point in this year's COVID-19 vaccine uptake.” Despite the current downturn, BioNTech remains optimistic about its projections for future revenue, estimating a range of 2.5 billion euros to 3.1 billion euros for the upcoming fiscal year of 2024.
In comparison, market analysts are forecasting a more conservative revenue expectation of 2.75 billion euros. Holstein added, “Consistent with the expectations of approval of our variant adapted COVID-19 vaccine in the US in mid-September, we expect to recognize the vast majority of our full-year revenues mostly in (the fourth quarter).” He further indicated, “Independent of the timing of revenue generation and as communicated earlier in the year, we expect to report a loss for the financial year.” BioNTech also reported a significant reduction in cost of sales, which decreased to 59.8 million euros in Q2 from 162.9 million euros in the same quarter the previous year.
Conversely, the company's research and development expenses surged to 584.6 million euros, rising from 373.4 million euros year-on-year due to expenses related to clinical studies for oncology pipeline candidates and associated personnel costs. The company reiterated its full-year guidance for research and development costs, estimating between 2.4 billion euros and 2.6 billion euros.
Additionally, it anticipates selling, general, and administrative expenses to range from 700 million euros to 800 million euros. CFO Holstein mentioned that these expenses are expected to rise in the latter half of the year compared to the first half of 2024. BioNTech still aims for capital expenditures to fall between 400 million euros to 500 million euros for the year. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Ugur Sahin highlighted the company’s strategy moving forward by stating, “We have started commercializing variant-adapted COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming season while accelerating our clinical development efforts to realize the full potential of our technologies.” As of the latest update, BioNTech’s stock is priced at 77.19, reflecting a decrease of 4.82, or a percent change of -5.88..