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Moderna Swings to Profit, Lifts Outlook as Covid-19 Vaccine Demand Stabilizes

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Moderna returned to profitability in the recent quarter and lifted its full-year revenue forecast, defying Wall Street expectations of continued losses as international demand for its Covid-19 shots stabilized. The biopharmaceutical company on Friday reported a third-quarter profit of $162 million, compared with a loss of $200 million a year earlier. Quarterly earnings came out to 38 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a loss of $1.10 a share. Total revenue jumped 29% to $1.31 billion, topping Wall Street estimates for $890.3 million. The company attributed the gain in part to higher Covid-19 vaccine sales in international markets. At the same time, Moderna is pushing beyond its pandemic-era identity to become an oncology and broad mRNA developer. The company is preparing regulatory submissions with partner Merck for its personalized melanoma vaccine, following late-stage study results that showed the vaccine reduced the risk of the cancer spreading or returning. Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said the company’s financial turnaround and manufacturing scale are paving the way to expand its cancer treatments into multiple types of tumors.

Swiss stocks

The Swiss stock market ended weak on Friday after remaining in negative territory throughout the session, amid a sell-off in global equity markets amid concerns about returns on AI-related investments. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 171.23 points or 1.14% at 14,796.50, the day's high. The index touched a low of 14,596.21 in the session. Sandoz Group, up marginally, was the only gainer in the SMI index. Amrize, Roche and Julius Baer settled modestly lower. Swiss RE ended down 4.55%. Kuehne + Nagel drifted lower by nearly 4%. Alcon, Lindt & Spruengli, Zurich Insurance and Helvetia Baloise Holding dropped 2%-2.5%. Swisscom, Schindler Ps, Sika, Geberit, Galderma Group, Swiss Life Holding, Logitech International, SGS, Nestle, Sonova, Lonza Group, Straumann Holding and Givaudan ended lower by 1.2%-2%. Survey data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed consumers in Switzerland remained more pessimistic in October, with the confidence level weakening to the lowest level in nearly three years. The consumer sentiment index dropped to -45 in October from -37 in the corresponding month last year. The index also worsened from -36 in September. The expected score was -35.0.

International markets

Europe
European stocks tumbled on Friday as risk appetite fell amid rising fears of tighter AI regulations by the Trump administration. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 1.84%. The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 2.21%, 2.33% and 1.83%, respectively. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden closed weak. Iceland and Türkiye ended higher, while Portugal and Russia closed flat. In the UK market, BT Group tumbled 6%. Metlen Energy & Metals dropped nearly 5%, while Airtel Africa, The Sage Group, Hiscox, Admiral Group, Next, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Associated British Foods, National Grid, Marks & Spencer, Ithaca Energy, Unilever and Experian lost 2%-4%. Coca-Cola HBC climbed more than 3%. Scottish Mortgage gained 2.2%, while Endeavour Mining, IAG, Rolls Royce Holdings and Intercontinental Hotels moved up 1%-1.7%. In the German market, Deutsche Post, Hannover RE, Munich RE, Siemens, Rheinmetall, BMW, Allianz, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Brenntag, Mercedes-Benz and Zalando ended down 3%-5%. Daimler Truck Holding drifted lower by 3.7% despite a 73% jump in Q3 adjusted operating profit and reaffirmed full-year guidance, as nine-month results remained below levels of year-ago. Adidas, SAP, Volkswagen, Deutsche Boerse, Bayer, Symrise, Commerzbank, E.ON, Beiersdorf, Hochtief and Deutsche Telekom also ended notably lower. Siemens Energy climbed 4%. RWE and Fresenius posted moderate gains. In the French market, Teleperformance tanked 15% after the company cut its 2026 revenue outlook.

United States
U.S. stocks were mixed as strong jobs data and a modest rebound for artificial-intelligence companies failed to quell investor nerves about the sustainability of the AI boom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 237.33 points, or 0.46%, to 51285.73. Meanwhile, the broad S&P 500 gained 23.13 points, or 0.31%, to 7376.86. The S&P 500 had its biggest weekly loss since the tariff scare in April 2025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 264.43 points, or 1.09%, to 24579.42. The Nasdaq's gains waned slightly near the closing bell, suggesting traders remained on edge going into the weekend. U.S. employers added 165,000 workers to payrolls in October, thumping economists' expectations of a 59,000 addition. Among the hardest hit chip makers, Nvidia rose 2.8% to $186.64. Cloud-computing firm CoreWeave added 6.3% to $46.40. Three major investors who plan to participate in Anthropic's initial-public offering said the valuation will likely need to come down from its current level at $1.5 trillion, with one saying it could be closer to $1 trillion. Tesla recovered some of its postelection losses after shares rose 4.2% to $358.22. Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company would wind down production of its Cybertruck electric pickup at its gigafactory in Texas next year. Meanwhile, Alphabet, Google's parent, plans to open a Texas factory to produce its Wing brand of drones.

Asia
Gains are prevailing on Asian stock markets in late trading on Monday. Following last Friday’s sell-off in the technology-heavy stock markets of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the recovery that had already begun late last week is continuing – even though the markets had still taken a heavy beating.

Bonds
The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year U.S. Treasury rose 0.045 percentage point to 4.520%. Still, the two-year yield has now fallen for six straight weeks, incurring the biggest six-week loss in more than a year. The 10-year Treasury note added 0.023 percentage point to 4.858%. The yield on the 30-year bond rose 0.010 percentage point to 5.26%. The 30-year yield has fallen for five straight weeks, the longest losing streak since 2022.

Analysis
Citi raises Novartis target to CHF 150 (135) – Buy
Citi raises STMicroelectronics target to EUR 67 (65) – Buy
Bank of America raises Pirelli target to EUR 7.50 (7.30) – Buy

Switzerland

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