Moderna’s shares surged 177% on Wednesday to close at $174.38, following positive late-stage data for its personalized cancer vaccine, before paring gains with a 23% decline on Thursday. The stock rebounded with a 10% advance on Friday, leaving it on track for a weekly gain of approximately 135%. The Phase 3 trial evaluated Moderna’s intismeran in combination with Merck’s Keytruda for advanced skin cancer, meeting its primary goal of recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint on distant metastasis-free survival. No new safety signals were reported.
Bitcoin extended gains above $77,000 on Friday, having briefly touched $79,461 earlier in the session, as supportive comments from President Donald Trump and a U.S. Treasury decision lifted sentiment. The Treasury increased the maximum per-operation size for long-dated bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion for 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year sectors, effective September 9 through November 4. Crypto-linked equities followed, with MicroStrategy up 25.9% for the week, Coinbase gaining 23.1%, and Marathon Digital rising 22.5%. Circle, Galaxy Digital, and Robinhood also posted weekly gains of 16.3%, 12.3%, and 9.7%, respectively.
Precious metals and mining stocks benefited from the same catalysts, alongside a weaker U.S. dollar. Spot gold advanced more than 2% on Friday and over 6% for the week. Agnico Eagle led mining equities with an 18.4% weekly gain, followed by Barrick at 15%, Freeport-McMoRan at 14%, and Newmont at 13.3%.
Estée Lauder shares jumped more than 16% on Wednesday and were set to finish the week up 15.9% after fourth-quarter results. Sales rose 6%, outpacing the 4% consensus estimate, while adjusted earnings reached $0.39 per share, topping the expected $0.32. Management cited share gains in mainland China, growth across all product categories except hair care, and progress on cost-cutting initiatives. Canaccord analyst Susan Anderson raised her price target to $90 from $85 but maintained a Hold rating, citing full valuation.
Walmart shares fell 9.2% on Thursday and an additional 0.9% on Friday after second-quarter results. While headline figures beat expectations, comparable sales at U.S. stores excluding gas grew 2.6%, missing the 3.67% consensus and marking the slowest growth in six years. Mizuho analyst David Bellinger described the results as a "worst-case scenario," calling it a "very messy print" and one of the largest misses in recent years.
