GSK stock plunged to a 10-month low Wednesday after sales of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, Arexvy, skidded and widely missed Wall Street's expectations.
The British drugmaker said Arexvy has now been on the market for a year. But sales tumbled 72% to 188 million pounds, or about $244.5 million. That was almost half the $436.4 million in sales analysts expected, though.
In comparison, sales of Pfizer's rival RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, fell just 5% in the same three months to $356 million. Abrysvo sales beat expectations, however.
GSK also reported a shortfall for shingles vaccine Shingrix. Shingrix sales toppled 7% to 739 million pounds, or about $961 million. CFRA analyst Wan Nurhayati noted Shingrix demand fell in the U.S. while Arexvy took a hit due to changed immunization guidelines.
"Both Shingrix and Arexvy are among the main growth drivers for GSK, and this latest development could weigh on growth and sentiment in our view," Nurhayati said in a client note.
On today's stock market, GSK stock dropped more than 3% to 37.01.
GSK Stock: Sales Come In Light
Across all products, GSK's sales fell 2% to 8.01 billion pounds. That translates to roughly $10.42 billion in sales, according to FactSet. But analysts projected a higher $10.52 billion.
CFRA's Nurhayati noted revenue from specialty medicines climbed 19% and more than offset the decline in vaccine sales. GSK also reported 12% growth for its HIV treatment sales, while revenue from cancer drugs rocketed 94%.
The company confirmed its outlook for the year and still expects 7% to 9% sales growth with 10% to 12% growth in core earnings.
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