The Cambridge-based company’s latest COVID shot was approved three weeks earlier than last year, according to a statement Thursday, helping drive product sales up 3.6 percent.

Moderna reported a surprise third-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by cost cutting and higher-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, even with low revenue from its new respiratory syncytial virus shot.

Moderna shares jumped after the biotechnology company reported higher-than-expected sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and backed its full-year sales forecast. Covid vaccine sales totaled $1.8 billion for the third quarter.

Days after Pfizer and BioNTech reported surprisingly strong sales of their updated COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna has done the same. | Days after Pfizer and BioNTech reported surprisingly strong sales of their updated COVID-19 vaccines,

Moderna said its newest Covid vaccine saw benefits after winning approval in the U.S. three weeks earlier than the last iteration of the shot did in 2023.