What happened
Shares of BioNTech (BNTX 0.55%) rose on Monday, following the release of the biotechnology company's first-quarter financial results. As of 2 p.m. ET, BioNTech's stock price was up more than 3% after rising as much as 7.3% earlier in the day.
So what
BioNTech's revenue surged 211% year over year to 6.4 billion euros ($6.7 billion), driven by sales of the company's COVID-19 vaccine. The German biotech shares the proceeds from the drug with its pharmaceutical partner Pfizer in most markets across the world.
BioNTech's net profit, in turn, soared 228% to 3.7 billion euros ($3.9 billion), or roughly $15.04 per share. That was well above analysts' estimates, which had called for per-share profits of approximately $9.71.
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"We believe the global deployment of our vaccine has likely saved millions of lives and had a significant impact on humanity," CFO Jens Holstein said in a press release. "As a result of an increased order volume initially placed in late 2021 following the then-emerging Omicron variant, we began the year 2022 with strong revenues and earnings."
Now what
The strong start to the year has BioNTech on track to achieve its full-year financial forecast. Management expects the company to generate vaccine-related revenue of 13 billion to 17 billion euros ($13.7 billion to $18 billion) in 2022.
BioNTech intends to use a significant portion of the profits it earns from its vaccine to fund its expansive research and development program. It has 20 oncology-focused clinical trials currently underway.
BioNTech also plans to pay a special cash dividend of 2 euros ($2.11) per share and buy back as much as $1.5 billion worth of its stock over the next two years.
