BioNTech (BNTX) Stock Falls 17% After Co-Founders Exit and Revenue Miss

TLDR

• BioNTech posted a Q4 net loss of €305 million, swinging from a €259.5 million profit a year earlier
• Full-year 2026 revenue guidance of €2–2.3 billion came in well below the €2.75 billion analysts expected
• Co-founders and CEO Ugur Sahin and CMO Ozlem Tureci are leaving by year-end to start a new biotech company
• BioNTech will contribute mRNA technologies to their new venture in exchange for a minority stake and royalties
• Covid-19 vaccine revenue is expected to keep falling in both the U.S. and European markets in 2026

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BioNTech hit the market with a triple blow on Tuesday — a quarterly loss, a weak outlook, and the departure of its founders. The stock dropped 17% in premarket trading, putting BNTX on pace for its worst single-day drop since December 2021.

The German biotech reported a Q4 net loss of €305 million. That compares to a profit of €259.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the period came in at €907.4 million, down from €1.19 billion.

BioNTech SE, BNTX

On a per-share basis, BioNTech lost €1.25 in Q4. Analysts had expected a loss of just €0.45, so the miss was hard to ignore.

The full-year guidance landed even harder. Management set 2026 revenue guidance at €2 billion to €2.3 billion. Wall Street had penciled in €2.75 billion — a gap of roughly €450 million at the midpoint.

Covid-19 vaccine revenue is the main driver of the shortfall. BioNTech said it expects lower Comirnaty sales in 2026 due to falling demand across both the U.S. and European markets.

Co-Founders Set to Exit by Year-End

Then came the leadership news. CEO Ugur Sahin and Chief Medical Officer Ozlem Tureci — a married couple who co-founded BioNTech in 2008 — announced they will leave the company by the end of 2026 to launch a new mRNA-focused biotech startup.

BioNTech’s supervisory board has started a search for their replacements.

The company said it plans to contribute “related rights and mRNA technologies” to the new startup in exchange for a minority stake, milestone payments, and sales royalties. The two ventures will operate with separate resources and funding.

Sahin and Tureci built BioNTech into a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic, when their mRNA work helped produce the Comirnaty vaccine alongside Pfizer.

mRNA Under Regulatory Pressure

The stock has also been dealing with a tougher regulatory climate in the U.S. mRNA technology has faced increased scrutiny since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took over as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The current administration has adopted a skeptical stance on mRNA vaccines.

Before Tuesday’s selloff, BNTX had been up 7.3% in 2026. Pfizer, its Comirnaty partner, had gained 7.7% over the same stretch.

For context, Moderna was up 89% and Novavax up 57% heading into Tuesday — both outpacing their larger peers by a wide margin.

BioNTech’s adjusted R&D expenses for 2026 are forecast between €2.2 billion and €2.5 billion, reflecting ongoing investment in its oncology pipeline.

The company said it expects to have 15 late-stage oncology clinical trials running by year-end, with a target of becoming a multi-product company by 2030.

BioNTech’s American depository receipts were trading at $84.59 in premarket Tuesday morning, down 17% on the session.

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