Moderna Q2 2026 earnings: loss narrows, revenue beats estimates despite norovirus vaccine setback

July 31, 2026 · Published August 7, 2026

Moderna posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 2026 loss and revenue well above forecasts, helped by international sales, while flagging a norovirus vaccine trial setback and reiterating 2026 growth guidance.

Key takeaways

• Moderna’s quarterly loss was smaller than Wall Street expected, and revenue came in well above forecasts — helped by international vaccine sales and money from long-term partnerships rather than a big rebound in U.S. demand.
• The fundamentals show why the stock is still unprofitable overall: even though gross margin (what’s left after production costs) is a healthy 36%, operating and net margins are deeply negative over the past year, because Moderna is spending heavily on research and vaccine manufacturing while revenue has shrunk from pandemic-era highs.
• Trailing twelve-month revenue is down roughly 28% year-over-year, reflecting the industry-wide falloff in COVID-19 vaccine demand since 2021-2022, though Moderna says the business is now growing again on a quarterly basis.
• CEO Stéphane Bancel said the quarter reflected ‘strong execution’ and ‘financial discipline,’ pointing to a 10% cut in cash costs versus a year earlier as the company works to control spending while its pipeline matures.
• Management reiterated guidance for full-year 2026 revenue to grow by up to 10%, split roughly evenly between U.S. and international sales, and lowered its forecasts for cost of sales and R&D spending.
• Moderna raised its year-end cash projection to $4.7-$5.2 billion and now expects full-year cash costs of about $4 billion, signaling the company believes it can fund operations for longer without needing to raise money.
• The RSV vaccine mRESVIA continues to expand internationally — now approved in 44 countries, with a new deal to supply up to 24 million doses to six European countries — while Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE are being updated to target a new COVID strain for the 2026-2027 season.
• A setback: Moderna’s experimental norovirus vaccine did not hit the bar for early success in a Phase 3 interim analysis, mainly because fewer qualifying illness cases showed up during the study season than expected; the company now plans to gather more data through a third winter season before drawing conclusions.
• The negative return on equity for the past year underscores that Moderna has been drawing down the large cash reserves built up during the pandemic to fund ongoing losses, rather than generating profit for shareholders.

Q2 2026 in context

Figures for the quarter ended Jun 2026 and the quarter ended Jun 2025, as reported to the SEC.

How the stock took it

Moderna Inc closed at $57.92 on Jul 30, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $55.14 on Aug 3, 2026, the first session after it — -4.8% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Fundamentals

Financial history →

Sources: company report · earnings call · BioSpace