BUZZ-Moderna shares retreat from 52-week high, market value evaporates by 10 billions dollars

October 16 - ** Moderna (MRNA.O) shares fell 11.6% to $209.16, ending a three-day winning streak, becoming the worst-performing stock in the Nasdaq 100 Index .NDX

** The stock is on track for its biggest one-day drop since August 20; if the decline continues, $10 billion in market capitalization could be erased

** This pullback comes after shares hit a 52-week high of $242.29 on Thursday, and after accumulating about a 20% increase over the previous three sessions

** The stock is still up more than 50% over the past month, rising nearly tenfold from the 52-week low of $22.28 set in November

** The recent rally has mainly been driven by late-stage clinical trial data of the cancer vaccine developed in cooperation with Merck (link) MRK.N

** Detailed clinical trial results of the cancer vaccine co-developed by Moderna and Merck will be released on October 24 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual meeting

** Earlier this month, Moderna replaced Warner Bros Discovery in the Nasdaq 100 Index (link)

** Out of 25 brokerages, 6 give Moderna a “buy” or higher rating, 15 say “hold,” and 4 have a “sell” or lower rating; their median target price is $130 — LSEG

** Including this session’s increase, MRNA’s gains this year have exceeded sevenfold

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