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- Forget COVID: Moderna Is Turning Into a Cancer Company -- and Wall Street Is Taking Notice
- Move Aside, Moderna: This mRNA Stock Is Sitting on a Cash Pile and a Deep Cancer Pipeline
BioNTech had 16.6 billion euros in cash, cash equivalents and securities at the end of the second quarter and has announced a share buyback of up to $1 billion. Its only commercialized product is Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine it developed and markets with Pfizer, while it aims to become a multiproduct oncology company by 2030. Its pipeline includes 14 ongoing pivotal trials and more than 10 novel combination approaches, with pumitamig, developed with Bristol Myers Squibb, showing encouraging lung cancer results with chemotherapy and being tested in seven pivotal trials under the ROSETTA program. Of the 20 analysts covering the stock, 13 rate it a strong buy and the rest a hold, with target prices implying potential upside of 5% to 64%. The stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 7, but risks include trial failures, regulatory delays, competition and declining COVID-19 vaccine revenue.
- Moderna Tumbles 10% as Profit Taking Hits Cancer Vaccine Rally; BioNTech Eases, Pfizer Stays Put
Moderna shares fell 10% to $214.03 in morning trading as investors took profits after a steep rally tied to its personalized cancer vaccine. In August, Moderna said intismeran autogene, given with Keytruda, met its primary endpoint in a late-stage melanoma trial, sending the stock to its best single-day gain ever. Five-year follow-up from a Phase 2b study showed the combination cut the risk of recurrence or death by 49% versus Keytruda alone. Meanwhile, BioNTech fell 2%, Pfizer rose 0.3%, the iShares Biotechnology ETF slid 2% and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) dipped 0.1%, pointing to selling concentrated in Moderna. Goldman Sachs raised its price target but kept a Neutral rating, with full melanoma data due at ESMO later this month.
- Moderna Rallies 6% as Money Rotates Into Healthcare; BioNTech and Pfizer Edge Higher
Moderna shares rose 6% to $239.74 in afternoon trading, far outpacing peers BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), up 2% to $90.10, and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), up 2% to $29.65. The article links the move to money rotating out of AI and technology stocks into healthcare, with the iShares Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) up 3% to $208.35 while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) was flat at $769.61. Moderna's outsized gain may also reflect an August late-stage melanoma trial, in which its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine given with Merck's Keytruda beat Keytruda alone. The article says fuller trial data is needed to confirm that story.
- Novavax Plunges 12% as Selloff Hits Vaccine Makers; Moderna Tumbles 10%, Pfizer Holds Steady
Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) fell 12% to $11.23 in afternoon trading, leading a selloff in vaccine stocks, while Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) dropped 10% to $212.80 and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 0.5% to $29.59. Novavax depends on partner Sanofi, which holds U.S. approval for its Nuvaxovid vaccine and is rolling it out in the UK, Germany and Canada; Novavax earns royalties and milestone payments rather than selling the vaccine itself. Citi kept its Sell rating on Novavax while raising its price target just before the drop. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) fell 2% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) fell 0.6%, suggesting the heaviest pressure is concentrated in vaccine developers. The article notes royalties could grow as Nuvaxovid reaches more countries, but milestone timing depends on Sanofi's schedule.
- Stocktwits Pharma Pulse: Moderna-Merck Cancer Vaccine Grabs Spotlight As Kidney-Cancer And MS Data Pour In
Biotech news this week focuses on kidney cancer, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease and personalized cancer treatment, as Arcus Biosciences (RCUS), Alnylam (ALNY), Moderna (MRNA) and Merck (MRK) release clinical updates alongside earnings and conferences. Last week, the health care ETF XLV gained 3%, outperforming SPY (down 2%) and QQQ (down 6%), while the biotech ETF XBI fell 6%. Arcus will present kidney-cancer data from its ARC-20 study of Casdatifan, Achieve Life Sciences will report year-long Cytisinicline findings for smoking cessation after a June FDA rejection it says concerned manufacturing and labeling, and Alnylam will share initial Phase 1 ALN-HTT02 results for Huntington's disease. Moderna and Merck will present Phase 3 INTerpath-001 melanoma data on Saturday, comparing individualized treatment intismeran autogene plus Keytruda with Keytruda alone after surgery, while a number of other companies will present multiple sclerosis updates through the week.
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BlackBerry stock rose 6% to $9.45 in afternoon trading after the company said its QNX unit’s royalty backlog exceeded $1.2 billion, a record, and the stock is up 149% year to date. Management credited growing adoption of the QNX Software Development Platform and the first deal for Alloy Kore, which it called the largest design win in QNX’s history, along with wins in robotics, industrial automation and medical devices. Over the same period, Mobileye fell 4% to $7 and Aptiv slipped 0.6% to $44.79, while the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF rose 0.1%. The article explains that QNX earns licensing royalties as vehicle programs enter production, whereas Mobileye and Aptiv carry heavier hardware content. The key question now is whether the backlog converts into royalty revenue on schedule, which depends on when automakers move programs into production.
- On October 22, how much interest would 100 million VND earn after 24 months at 7 banks?
Based on listed rates for a 24-month term with interest paid at maturity, VPBank offers the highest counter rate at 6.9% per year (VND 13.8 million in interest), followed by MB at 6.5% (VND 13 million) and Sacombank at 6.2% (VND 12.4 million). Techcombank has the lowest counter rate in the compared group at 4.85% per year, or VND 9.7 million. For online deposits, Sacombank leads at 7.3% per year (VND 14.6 million), followed by VPBank at 7.1% (VND 14.2 million), while HDBank pays 5% (VND 10 million) and Techcombank 5.35% (VND 10.7 million); ACB has no 24-month online rate data. The rates are compiled from bank rate schedules, apply to specific products and deposit amounts, and may change over time or by agreement with depositors.
- TeraWulf Jumps 8% as CEO Says Power Demand Remains ‘Extremely Strong’; Applied Digital Surges 9%, IREN Climbs 6%
TeraWulf shares rose 8% to $12.95 in afternoon trading after CEO Paul B. Prager wrote on X that demand for power “remains extremely strong,” that the company’s site is “energized” to meet it, and that shareholders would not be diluted. He said customers would likely need outside funding but TeraWulf would not take on that financial risk, and that the next data center building at Lake Mariner, leased to Fluidstack, is on track for delivery this quarter. Applied Digital rose 9% to $21.17 and IREN climbed 6% to $28.11, while the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining and Digital Power ETF gained 3% to $32.43 against a 0.6% rise in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. The article links the rally to power scarcity, including Elon Musk’s comment on the earnings call that the infrastructure to supply and cool electrical equipment is “somewhat of a limiting factor” for superintelligence. The next test for TeraWulf is whether the Lake Mariner building is delivered on schedule this quarter.
- Why Pegasystems Stock Dropped After Earnings
Pegasystems shares slipped 3.6% by 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday after the company reported Q3 results well below analyst forecasts. Analysts expected $0.49 per share on $421.8 million in sales, but Pegasystems earned $0.35 per share on a non-GAAP basis with sales below $393.4 million, and GAAP earnings were only $0.08 per share. Sales grew 3% year over year, GAAP profit fell 68%, and annual contract value rose 6%, which CEO Alan Trefler and CFO Ken Stillwell cited as grounds for confidence. The article argues free cash flow matters more to investors: the company generated $490 million last year and is running at about $438 million annualized, and Stillwell projects $700 million or more by 2028. The article calculates that this would imply near-term free cash flow growth north of 25%.
- Salesforce (CRM) vs Oracle (ORCL): Which Is a Better Stock to Buy?
Salesforce closed at $242.45 on October 19 and gained 30.2% over six months, versus 8.7% for the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, while Oracle closed at $129.59 after losing more than a quarter of its value over the same period. The article describes Salesforce’s customer records and workflows as hard to replace, with $14.4 billion of free cash flow in its last fiscal year, but notes slow growth, with revenue up 10.80% last quarter, and a deal announced October 20 to buy Braze for $5.66 billion. Its seat-based pricing could be a risk if AI agents take on work that staff used to do. Oracle grew revenue 29.60% last quarter at a 35.63% operating margin, supported by database support contracts, but its build-out of AI computing capacity carries debt equal to 251.72% of equity and levered free cash flow of negative $45.85 billion over the past year. The article adds that renting computing capacity earns a thinner margin than licensing software.
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Gary Black, managing partner of The Future Fund, argues that an all-stock Tesla–SpaceX deal at about $420 per Tesla share, roughly 10% above the current price, would add little value. Tesla trades at 191.6x forward earnings, well above its three-year average of 135.1x and above SpaceX's multiple, so the combined company would likely be valued at SpaceX's lower level. Tesla's normalized EPS fell from $3.12 in fiscal 2023 to $1.66 in fiscal 2025, with analysts expecting $2.17 in fiscal 2027. Musk said special committees at both companies are studying the idea and that he thinks it would be a good idea, but no terms have been agreed.
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