Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) stock plummeted more than 20% ahead of Wednesday’s market open after the company reported worse-than-expected FQ4 results and guidance for the current quarter.
The biotech firm posted a fourth-quarter loss per share of $1.44, notably worse than the $0.45 loss per share forecasted by analysts. Revenue came in at $291 million, also below the anticipated $321.97 million.
The company reported research and development (R&D) expenses of $164.7 million for the quarter, marking a 36% decrease year over year, while analysts expected $136.1 million.
For its future outlook, Novavax is projecting revenue for the fiscal year 2024 to be between $0.8 billion and $1 billion, compared to the projected $0.97 billion.
"2023 was a transition year for Novavax and we have made tremendous progress towards strengthening the financial profile of the Company, delivering the only protein-based non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine option to the U.S. and globally, and focusing our investment on the future expansion of our product portfolio," said John C. Jacobs, President and CEO of Novavax.
"Moving into the next chapter of our business journey as a more lean and agile organization, we are laser focused on improving our commercial performance in 2024 and 2025 and diversifying our revenue opportunity with our potential combination vaccine launch which we expect in the fall of 2026."