Markets
Moderna headquarters
(Getty Images)

Moderna reports Q4 earnings beat, upbeat 2026 outlook

The report comes after Moderna said the FDA is refusing to consider an application for its mRNA flu vaccine.

Moderna reported Q4 earnings results on Friday that beat Wall Street estimates and also gave cheery full-year sales guidance for 2026, which comes as the company faces major regulatory headwinds.

For the last three months of 2025, Moderna reported:

  • Loss per share of $2.11, less than the $2.54 loss per share analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting.

  • Revenue of $678 million, more than the $635 million the Street was expecting. The company had already disclosed preliminary full-year 2025 sales in January, which was in line with the $1.9 billion the company reported on Friday.

For the full-year 2026, the company expects:

  • Revenue to grow 10%. Currently, analysts are penciling $2 billion in 2026 sales, which is about a 5% increase.

The company's 2025 sales came in higher than analysts initially expected, driven by lower-than-anticipated declines in vaccination rates despite attacks from the Trump administration.

Moderna was tapped by the US government to quickly develop a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2020, a product that remains its single source of revenue. Investors have been eager to see the company roll out new products in its pipeline, but a hostile regulatory environment has complicated those plans.

Moderna said earlier this week that the Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider an application for its mRNA flu vaccine. The company said in that announcement that it would not have an impact on its 2026 guidance.

The company said the filing was accepted by the European Union, Canada and Australia. Company guidance predicts 2026 sales will be 50% international.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Applied Materials soars as Wall Street scrambles to boost price targets after “narrative-changing quarter”

Wall Street has fresh conviction that Applied Materials is a winner as the AI boom forces an expansion of chipmaking capacity.

The semicap company reported a top and bottom line beat, along with Q2 guidance that exceeded estimates, after the close on Thursday, sending shares sharply higher. Applied Materials is trading up double-digits as of 8 am ET.

“This is finally the narrative-changing quarter that we have been waiting for,” writes Needham analyst Charles Shi, who boosted his price target to $440 from $390. “With AMAT shaking off the bad China narrative and returning to a strong AI-driven beat-and-raise cycle, we expect AMAT valuation gap vs. peers will narrow as AMAT should re-rate higher.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the words on the conference call didn’t hurt either.

“Management’s decidedly more constructive tone on the call (relative to a more muted/conservative tone on the last call) we think was underpinned by a sharp acceleration in customer orders and activity levels in the quarter,” writes JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur, who lifted his price target to $400 from $260.

He spotlighted the strong outlook for its advanced packaging business given “AMAT’s #1 position in HBM where spending is inflecting higher as the absorption of previously shipped equipment concludes and additional capacity/capability is required amid burgeoning demand growth and customers’ rapid technology transitions (HBM3e > HBM4 > HBM4e and beyond).”

Other sell-side shops that took a more more optimistic view and upped their price targets include:

  • Keybanc, up to $450 from $380,

  • Barclays, up to $450 from $360,

  • Wells Fargo, up to $435 from $350

  • Citi, up to $420 from $400

  • Morgan Stanley, up to $420 from $364

  • Mizuho, up to $410 from $370

“This is finally the narrative-changing quarter that we have been waiting for,” writes Needham analyst Charles Shi, who boosted his price target to $440 from $390. “With AMAT shaking off the bad China narrative and returning to a strong AI-driven beat-and-raise cycle, we expect AMAT valuation gap vs. peers will narrow as AMAT should re-rate higher.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the words on the conference call didn’t hurt either.

“Management’s decidedly more constructive tone on the call (relative to a more muted/conservative tone on the last call) we think was underpinned by a sharp acceleration in customer orders and activity levels in the quarter,” writes JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur, who lifted his price target to $400 from $260.

He spotlighted the strong outlook for its advanced packaging business given “AMAT’s #1 position in HBM where spending is inflecting higher as the absorption of previously shipped equipment concludes and additional capacity/capability is required amid burgeoning demand growth and customers’ rapid technology transitions (HBM3e > HBM4 > HBM4e and beyond).”

Other sell-side shops that took a more more optimistic view and upped their price targets include:

  • Keybanc, up to $450 from $380,

  • Barclays, up to $450 from $360,

  • Wells Fargo, up to $435 from $350

  • Citi, up to $420 from $400

  • Morgan Stanley, up to $420 from $364

  • Mizuho, up to $410 from $370

markets

Plug Power wins shareholder approval to boost its share count, avoiding reverse split and paving the way for more dilution

After the close on Thursday, Plug Power revealed that it received sufficient shareholder support to increase its share count.

This approval paves the way for the hydrogen fuel cell company to raise more money via share offerings, something it’s announced 20 times since its IPO, according to data from Bloomberg.

Management had urged shareholders to vote in favor of this proposal. It’s a sign of how important retail investors are to Plug that CEO Andy Marsh even hosted an AMA on Reddit to build support among the community.

If this measure had failed to get a “yes” vote from the majority of shareholders, Plug warned that it would have been forced to proceed with a reverse stock split (which would have raised the per-share price) in order to issue more shares.

“Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy,” the company said in a November filing.

Plug is aiming to capitalize on the data center-driven bid for power by offering auxiliary solutions.

markets

Pinterest plummets on disappointing Q1 sales forecast, as retailers pull back on ad spending

Shares of social media platform Pinterest are down around 20% in premarket trading on Friday, following fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday that fell short of expectations.

While revenue grew 14% to $1.32 billion in Q4, broadly in line with forecasts of $1.33 billion, the company reported earnings per share of 67 cents, below the 69 cents projected. Pinterest forecast sales in Q1 2026 to fall between $951 million and $971 million, missing average analyst estimates of $980 million.

markets

DraftKings drops after issuing downbeat 2026 sales, profit forecasts

DraftKings plunged after the sports betting company gave downbeat guidance for the current year.

Shares were down 15% in recent after-hours trading.

It forecast: 

  • Revenue between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $7.29 billion, according to FactSet. 

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million, compared with estimates of $981 million.

For the fourth quarter, DraftKings posted: 

  • Revenue of $1.99 billion, in line with Wall Street’s $1.99 billion expectation 

  • Earnings per share of $0.25, compared with a consensus estimate of $0.09. 

It forecast: 

  • Revenue between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $7.29 billion, according to FactSet. 

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million, compared with estimates of $981 million.

For the fourth quarter, DraftKings posted: 

  • Revenue of $1.99 billion, in line with Wall Street’s $1.99 billion expectation 

  • Earnings per share of $0.25, compared with a consensus estimate of $0.09. 

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.