Moderna, Brazilian ADRs Tumble in Premarket; SpaceX Gains on GPU Financing News

Shares of Moderna and U.S.-listed Brazilian companies fell sharply in premarket trading Monday, while SpaceX saw gains on news of a significant financing deal. The moves came as broader U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open, with investors looking ahead to a Federal Reserve policy announcement and key corporate earnings later in the week.

Healthcare and Tech Movers

Moderna (MRNA) stock dropped 9.3% as investors continued to digest Phase 3 trial data for its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, developed with Merck. The data showed the vaccine, combined with Keytruda, reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42%. While clinically meaningful, this was below the 49% reduction reported in an earlier Phase 2b study, prompting a sell-off.

SpaceX (SPCX) shares rose 1.1% after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had secured a $40 billion debt financing arrangement to purchase graphics processing units (GPUs). The deal was supported by an analyst upgrade from Bernstein, which raised its price target on the stock to $268 from $248.

Surgery Partners (SGRY) surged over 21% following a *Financial Times* report that the surgical care provider had agreed to be taken private by Bon Secours Mercy Health. According to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter, the deal values Surgery Partners at about $6 billion, including debt.

Brazil ADRs Plunge on Election Upset

American depositary receipts (ADRs) of major Brazilian companies plunged after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a surprise victory for a fourth term. The market reaction suggests investors, who had largely anticipated a win by his opponent, were repricing political and economic risk.

Ad

The sell-off was broad and steep across Brazilian equities:

• State-controlled oil giant Petrobras (PBR) plummeted roughly 22%.
• Financial firms saw heavy losses, with Itaú Unibanco (ITUB), Banco Bradesco (BBD), and Nu Holdings (NU) falling between 23% and 29%.
• The iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), a widely-tracked benchmark for the country's stock market, tumbled more than 27%.

Analyst Actions Impacting FICO

Shares of Fair Isaac (FICO), the credit scoring company, dropped 4.5% after receiving a downgrade from Wells Fargo to Equal Weight from Overweight. The bank cited weaker confidence in the company's near-term earnings outlook.

The cautious sentiment follows FICO's launch of a new pricing program for mortgage lenders. The move is seen as a response to increased competition from VantageScore 4.0, which was recently approved by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, creating potential pressure on FICO's pricing power.