• Bonds: The Treasury Department doubled its buybacks for 10-, 20-, and 30-year bonds from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation beginning on September 9, providing bonds with some much-needed support.
• Stocks: Bonds yanked stocks lower yesterday but boosted indexes across the board this afternoon. Big Tech stocks popped, though the big winner was Moderna, which became the first stock on the S&P 500 to rise over 100% in a single day since 2008.
• Economy: President Trump paused 50% tariffs against some Canadian products at the 11th hour last night (literally). FOMC meeting minutes from July revealed that Fed officials could hike interest rates soon if inflation doesn’t come down.

Pharma

Illustration: Shannon May, Photos: Adobe Stock, Unsplash

Today, great news for patients was also great news for investors.

An experimental new cancer vaccine created by Moderna and Merck showed positive results in a late-stage trial, a key step in eventually bringing the treatment to market.

Shares of Moderna exploded 176.97%, its largest single-day leap ever, while Merck jumped 12.61%. The two pharma giants added over $50 billion in combined market cap in just one trading session.

Remember mRNA? The technology behind the Covid-19 vaccine is being used in conjunction with Merck’s immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, to target cell mutations in tumors. In the study, the treatment extended the time that melanoma patients who had undergone surgery to remove a tumor remained in remission, and it also stopped the cancer’s spread to other parts of the body. If these results continue to be replicated, this would be a huge gamechanger for melanoma, one of the deadliest skin cancers.

The news is also a big deal because it’s the first promising late-stage trial for any cancer vaccine using mRNA. Other treatments using this technique are being developed for pancreatic, breast, and lung cancers, according to Reuters.

“It’s a big moment for medicine, a big moment for patients,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in an interview with CNBC.

Big Pharma’s big reset

Moderna has been searching for a second act after struggling to keep up the momentum of the Covid-19 vaccine. With this new drug, it could break into the massive $240+ billion cancer treatment market, and investors’ anticipation has already propelled Moderna shares 491.32% higher this year alone.

Analysts are largely bullish on the news, citing potential uses of the technology for treating other cancers down the line. “[It] reflects a watershed moment for Moderna, in our view, effectively allowing the company to diversify away from infectious disease and potentially easing persistent capital overhangs,” wrote Bank of America research analyst Alec Stranahan. He upgraded the stock from Underweight to Neutral and raised his price target from $40 to $170, just shy of where shares ended up today.

For Merck, the drug would be a lifeline rescuing the company from the impending patent cliff. The patent for Keytruda, one of the most popular drugs in the world and a cash cow for Merck, will expire in 2028.—LB

      

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Stocks

🟢 What’s up

• Pilgrim’s Pride jumped 9.79% after JBS offered to buy the remaining shares it doesn’t already own.
• Marvell Technology surged 9.85% on a custom-chip deal that gives Google the right to acquire a stake in the company worth up to $12.2 billion.
• Coinbase, Robinhood, and Strategy climbed 9.55%, 4.63%, and 12.68%, respectively, thanks to a Bitcoin rally fueled by the Treasury’s decision to double planned buybacks of long-dated government debt.
• Estée Lauder gained 16.39% on an earnings beat and its first year of revenue growth after three straight annual declines.
• Honeywell Aerospace rose 5.98% following a Morgan Stanley upgrade, with the analyst seeing an opportunity after the stock’s post-spinoff selloff.
• Lowe’s advanced 2.02% despite forecasting full-year results at the low end of its previous range, with a second-quarter earnings beat helping lift shares.

🔴 What’s down

• Furniture maker La-Z-Boy fell 16.95% after quarterly earnings declined 9% and adjusted operating income dropped 20% from a year ago.
• Defense electronics company Mercury Systems slipped 3.57% on a slight quarterly earnings miss, despite issuing a solid full-year outlook.
• TJX Companies dropped 4.21% after its quarterly and full-year guidance disappointed investors, overshadowing a narrow earnings beat.
• AI infrastructure company WhiteFiber declined 21.02% following an upsized $270 million convertible debt offering.
• ZIM Integrated Shipping Services fell 3.79% despite topping quarterly expectations, as concerns over cash flow and its Hapag-Lloyd deal remained in focus.
• Nebius Group fell 9.87% on plans to raise $4.5 billion through convertible notes to fund its data center and computing expansion.

Stock of the day

Target's turnaround is taking off

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Unsplash, Adobe Stock

Once is a coincidence, so is twice a trend? Target just strung together back-to-back quarters of sales growth, a sign that the retailer’s yearslong slump may finally be over.

Comparable sales from stores open at least a year climbed 3.8%, topping Wall Street estimates of 2.4%. Comparable digital sales soared 8.7% thanks to a 25% increase in same-day deliveries. Total revenue grew 5.3% to $26.5 billion, surpassing expectations of $26.1 billion. And oh yeah, that tariff refund of $994 million didn’t hurt.

Shares climbed 4.35% today, and the stock has risen 62.78% in 2026.

Though the megachain raised its annual profit and sales outlook, CEO Michael Fiddelke, who’s been leading the overhaul since February, pointed out that, “Two strong quarters is not the goal. Sustained, durable top- and bottom-line growth over time is what we’re after.”

How stores changed: Target drew inflation-weary consumers in the door by slashing prices on over 10,000 items over the past year; 95% of school supplies were cheaper than last year. Sales in all core categories grew, particularly beauty, food and beverage, and hardlines (electronics, appliances, tools, and the like).

Two weak spots? Home and apparel departments, despite successful partnerships with hip brands like Hollister and LoveShackFancy. Since clothes and furnishings constitute around 30% of the store mix, “reinstating merchandising authority” in these two categories “will be essential to drive positive comps,” noted TD Cowen analysts.

In other words, shoppers may snap up snacks, makeup, and laptops, but bringing Tarzhay-levels of cool back to t-shirt racks and throw pillows will take longer than two quarters.—JD

Tech

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Image

Investors have thrown money at everything from AI chips to prediction markets. Now, you can add kung-fu-fighting robots to the list.

Shares of Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics surged 460% in their Shanghai STAR Market debut, one of the splashiest listings yet for China’s booming humanoid robot industry.

Everybody wants in

The robots can’t wash your dishes or do your laundry, but they can dance, throw punches, do backflips, and sprint faster than Usain Bolt. On Monday, Unitree unveiled a humanoid called “Superman” that the company says can jump two meters from a standstill and run as fast as 12.66 meters per second (that’s 28+ mph for you Americans).

Admittedly, that sounds pretty cool—and investors seem to agree. Demand was already off the charts before Unitree began trading: Unitree’s online offering was more than 5,000 times oversubscribed, leaving retail investors with just a 0.018% chance of scoring shares. The company also raised about $905 million from strategic investors that included Chinese AI darling DeepSeek, which put in roughly $21 million.

But investors weren’t exactly getting a bargain. Unitree entered the market at a roughly $9 billion valuation, already more than 200 times last year’s earnings. By the closing bell, its market value had ballooned to about $50 billion.

That said, the company is profitable—a rarity among humanoid robot makers—and its revenue more than quadrupled last year to roughly $250 million. But growth isn’t coming cheap: first-quarter adjusted profit fell around 52% as the company ramped up R&D and marketing spending.

The robot race

The humanoid market is still in its infancy, but Morgan Stanley estimates that it could grow to $7.5 trillion by 2050. China has an early lead: Chinese companies already account for the vast majority of global humanoid deliveries, and Morgan Stanley expects the country to ship about 50,000 units this year, nearly double its previous forecast.

Unitree’s blockbuster debut also shows just how much investor appetite there is for humanoid bots at large. That includes offerings from Tesla, which is preparing to mass-produce its next-generation Optimus robot.

US policy could also give American robot makers a boost. Last month, Washington restricted imports of new humanoid robot models over an “immediate national security threat.” That’s a particular headache for Unitree, which gets more than 40% of its revenue from overseas, and has warned that tighter trade restrictions could hurt its business.

For now, though, Unitree doesn’t seem to have problems finding investors willing to bet that the company can help them enjoy some gains—before the robot army takes over the world.—SY

      

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News

• Amazon is expanding drone delivery to 500 cities.
• Don’t try to catch a falling knife: Here’s why it’s better to buy stocks at record highs than sit around waiting for the next crash.
• Cantor Fitzgerald just became one of the first firms on Wall Street to bring prediction market trading to institutional investors.
• Tech executives are finally realizing everyone hates AI—and they’re trying to figure out how to win people over.
• How much are SpaceX shares really worth? Professor G says no more than $30.
• There’s a hot new dating site sweeping the web: LinkedIn.
• Banking interns have a new priority: be the AI expert.

Calendar

Economic reports: Pretty quiet on the economic front, with only two reports to keep on your radar: The Philly manufacturing survey, and weekly initial jobless claims.

Earnings announcements: Earnings are slowing as well, but it’s worth watching announcements from Walmart, Alibaba, Deere & Co., Ross Stores, and Advance Auto Parts.

recs

📈 The average 401(k) balance is $351,242. Our most-clicked story this time last week let you see how you compare to the rest of your peers with a breakdown of average balances by age.

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