Moderna vs Pfizer: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Moderna reported $1.9B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $2.8B. Pfizer reported $62.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $7.8B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Moderna
Moderna went from $803 million of revenue in 2020 to $18.5 billion in 2021 and $19.3 billion in 2022, earning $12.2 billion and $8.4 billion of net income in those years. Revenue then fell to $6.8 billion in 2023, $3.2 billion in 2024 and $1.94 billion in 2025, with net losses of $4.7 billion, $3.6 billion and $2.8 billion. In 2025 Moderna cut operating expenses by about $2.2 billion (roughly 30%) and ended the year with $8.1 billion in cash and investments. Q2 2026 revenue was $145 million with a $782 million net loss; management guided to up to 10% revenue growth for 2026 and cash costs of about $4 billion.
Pfizer
Pfizer revenue rose from $41.7 billion in 2020 to $81.3 billion in 2021 and $101.2 billion in 2022 on Comirnaty and Paxlovid, then fell to $59.6 billion in 2023 as COVID demand collapsed. It recovered to $63.6 billion in 2024 and was $62.6 billion in 2025, with net income of $7.8 billion. In Q2 2026 revenue was $15.0 billion, up 1% operationally, or 5% excluding COVID products, and Pfizer raised the midpoint of its 2026 revenue guidance to $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion with adjusted EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3.00. The roughly $31 billion of debt raised for Seagen in 2023 and an ongoing cost-reduction program shape capital allocation alongside a dividend yield near 6%.
Revenue and profit by year
Moderna
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.9B | -$2.8B | -145.2% | -39.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $3.2B | -$3.6B | -110.0% | -52.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $6.8B | -$4.7B | -68.8% | -64.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $19.3B | $8.4B | 43.4% | +4.3% | Source |
| FY2021 | $18.5B | $12.2B | 66.1% | +2200.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $803M | -$747M | -93.0% | +1233.7% | Source |
| FY2019 | $60.2M | -$514M | -853.7% | -55.4% | Source |
| FY2018 | $135.1M | -$384.7M | -284.8% | -34.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $205.8M | -$255.9M | -124.3% | +89.9% | Source |
| FY2016 | $108.4M | -$216.2M | -199.5% | — | Source |
Pfizer
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $62.6B | $7.8B | 12.4% | -1.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | $63.6B | $8B | 12.6% | +6.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $59.6B | $2.1B | 3.6% | -41.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $101.2B | $31.4B | 31.0% | +24.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $81.3B | $22B | 27.0% | +95.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $41.7B | $9.2B | 22.0% | +1.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $40.9B | $16B | 39.2% | +0.2% | Source |
| FY2018 | $40.8B | $11.2B | 27.3% | -22.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $52.5B | $21.3B | 40.6% | -0.5% | Source |
| FY2016 | $52.8B | $7.2B | 13.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Moderna
- Product SalesPrimary
Commercial sales of Moderna's mRNA vaccines, led by COVID and RSV products.
- Collaboration Revenue
Complementary
Revenue from development collaborations, partner programs, and shared pipeline work.
- Grants And Other Revenue
Complementary
Government, nonprofit, and other support tied to vaccine and platform development.
- Future Pipeline Commercialization
Potential
Revenue potential from respiratory combinations, oncology, rare disease, and other mRNA medicines if approved.
Pfizer
- Patented medicines
Core revenue
Prescription drugs protected by exclusivity and clinical differentiation.
- Vaccines
Major revenue contributor
Adult, pediatric, pneumococcal, RSV, and COVID-related vaccines.
- Oncology
Strategic growth driver
Cancer medicines, antibody-drug conjugates, and Seagen-related assets.
- Hospital and anti-infective products
Meaningful contributor
Sterile injectables, anti-infectives, and hospital therapies.
- Collaborations and alliances
Supplemental
Co-promoted products and partnered scientific platforms.
Business model and strategy
Moderna
How it makes money
Moderna earns most of its revenue from net product sales of mRNA vaccines: Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE for COVID-19, mRESVIA for RSV, and from the 2026-2027 season mFLUSIVA for influenza. Buyers are governments, national immunization programs, pharmacy chains, wholesalers and health systems, so sales are concentrated in the autumn and winter vaccination season.
Growth strategy
Moderna is narrowing its pipeline to programs with near-term commercial potential: respiratory vaccines (COVID, RSV, flu and combinations), individualized cancer therapy with Merck, and a small set of rare-disease and latent-virus programs.
Competitive advantage
Moderna's advantages are a validated mRNA and lipid nanoparticle platform, a large patent estate on modified mRNA, in-house manufacturing in Norwood, Massachusetts plus onshore plants in the UK, Canada and Australia, and regulatory experience across five FDA-approved products.
Pfizer
How it makes money
Pfizer makes money by selling patented prescription medicines and vaccines to wholesalers, hospitals, governments and pharmacies, with the United States as its largest market. Revenue is concentrated in large franchises such as Eliquis (co-commercialized with Bristol Myers Squibb), the Prevnar pneumococcal vaccines, the Vyndaqel tafamidis family, Ibrance, Xtandi and the Seagen antibody-drug conjugates.
Growth strategy
Pfizer's growth plan has three parts. Oncology: the $43 billion Seagen deal (closed December 2023) added Padcev, Adcetris, Tukysa and Tivdak, and Pfizer licensed 3SBio's PD-1xVEGF bispecific in 2025 and signed a 12-program cancer collaboration with Innovent Biologics in May 2026 ($650 million upfront, up to $10.5 billion total).
Competitive advantage
Pfizer's advantage is scale in late-stage development, regulatory filings, manufacturing and commercialization. The BioNTech partnership showed it: BioNTech supplied the mRNA science, while Pfizer ran the global Phase 3 trial with more than 40,000 participants, built ultra-cold distribution and manufactured billions of Comirnaty doses.
Questions about Moderna vs Pfizer
Which company has higher revenue — Moderna, Inc. or Pfizer Inc.?
Moderna, Inc. reported $1.9B (FY2025), while Pfizer Inc. reported $62.6B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Pfizer Inc. is the larger business, with Moderna, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Moderna, Inc. vs Pfizer Inc.?
Moderna, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $72.7B, while Pfizer Inc.'s is $160.3B. Pfizer Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Moderna, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Moderna, Inc. or Pfizer Inc.?
Moderna, Inc. generates $414k / employee in revenue per employee, while Pfizer Inc. generates $834k / employee. Pfizer Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Moderna, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. make money?
Moderna, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Moderna, Inc.: Moderna earns most of its revenue from net product sales of mRNA vaccines: Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE for COVID-19, mRESVIA for RSV, and from the 2026-2027 season mFLUSIVA for influenza. Pfizer Inc.: Pfizer makes money by selling patented prescription medicines and vaccines to wholesalers, hospitals, governments and pharmacies, with the United States as its largest market.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Moderna, Inc. or Pfizer Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Moderna, Inc. trades at 37.4x P/S and Pfizer Inc. at 2.6x P/S. Moderna, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Pfizer Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Moderna, Inc. bigger than Pfizer Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Pfizer Inc. ($62.6B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Moderna, Inc. ($1.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Moderna vs Pfizer overview