Moderna Posts Its First Quarterly Profit in Years as Revenue Jumps 29%

Moderna turned a profit in the third quarter, a result that few analysts had pencilled in. The company reported net income of $162 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with a loss of $200 million in the same quarter of 2025. Revenue rose 29% to $1.31 billion, against the $885 million analysts expected, CNBC reported, citing an LSEG survey.

Behind the number is a company that has spent two years shrinking its costs and widening its customer list. Research and development spending fell from $801 million to $583 million in the quarter, while sales to governments outside the United States grew. Chief executive Stéphane Bancel credited the new products and the spread of customers across more countries for the strong quarter.

Where the money came from

The United States contributed $780 million of revenue and international markets $533 million. CNBC says the growth came mostly from higher overseas sales of the COVID-19 vaccine, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Asia, and from deliveries under long-term government supply agreements. Moderna does not break out sales by product in its release, so the split between older and newer vaccines is not public yet.

Chart: GoodBad. Data from Moderna’s third-quarter 2026 results (unaudited), SEC Form 8-K, 6 November 2026.

The company now expects revenue to grow 15% to 25% in 2026, up from its earlier forecast of growth of up to 10%. Moderna also trimmed its expected spending on research by about $200 million and now expects to end the year with $8.1 billion to $8.3 billion in cash and investments. Its earlier range was $4.7 billion to $5.2 billion. These are the company’s own forecasts, and the figures are unaudited.

The pipeline behind the profit

The more important story for patients is what the money pays for. In October, Moderna and Merck reported results for an individualised cancer vaccine, intismeran. Added to the immunotherapy Keytruda, it cut the risk of recurrence or death by 42% in high-risk melanoma patients after surgery, compared with Keytruda alone. We covered that Phase 3 result when it came out. Moderna says it is preparing submissions to regulators.

Its flu vaccine, mFLUSIVA, won FDA approval in August for adults aged 50 to 64, with accelerated approval for those 65 and over. It is the company’s fifth approved product worldwide and was also approved in Canada.

Moderna also settled a patent dispute with GSK on 28 October, with no payments required for the cross-licences. A separate $950 million litigation payment fell in the quarter and was paid out of cash.

What it means for you

For most patients nothing changes this week. The practical effect is that a vaccine maker with a cancer treatment in late-stage testing has more room to finish the work. A company that was burning cash at the start of the year now has about $8.0 billion in cash and investments, the release shows, up from $6.9 billion in June.

Two caveats belong next to the good news, and the companion piece covers them in full. The nine-month result is still a net loss of $1.96 billion, close to the $2.0 billion loss of a year ago. Receivables rose to $1.37 billion from $184 million at the end of 2025 because many third-quarter sales are not yet paid for. Part of the cash rise came from about $2.6 billion in net proceeds from convertible notes, which is borrowing.

The next test is whether sales hold through 2027. Moderna has said it expects to submit the melanoma data for approval, and the company’s 2026 results will show whether this quarter was a turn or a spike.