Moderna Stock Is Soaring: What's Going On?

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares are surging Monday. The company announced three abstracts on its personalized cancer vaccine intismeran autogene were accepted for presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. Here’s what you should know. Moderna shares are powering higher. Why are MRNA shares rallying? Moderna’s Melanoma Data Selected for ESMO Presidential Symposium Moderna revealed that three separate abstracts centered on intismeran autogene, an experimental mRNA-based therapy tailored individually to each patient’s tumor, have earned a place on the program at this year’s ESMO Congress, set to take place in Madrid from October 23 through October 27. The centerpiece is Phase 3 data from the INTerpath-001 trial, comparing intismeran autogene combined with Keytruda against Keytruda alone in the adjuvant treatment of resected stage IIB-IV melanoma, set for presentation during the conference’s Presidential Symposium on October 24 by Georgina Long of Sydney, Australia. Separately, Moderna will hold a live-streamed session for investors that same Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT, reachable through the events section of its investor relations page online, and the company plans to keep a recording accessible on its site for a minimum of 30 days after it airs. Moderna’s Chart Shows a Dramatic Spike Followed by a Steadier Climb Beyond the upcoming conference news, Moderna’s chart tells its own story of a stock that’s moved through several distinct phases since midsummer. For roughly two months, shares barely budged, confined to a tight band between $55 and $65 after sliding down from around $80 in late June. That calm ended abruptly on August 19, when a single trading session sent the stock soaring to an intraday high close to $196, more than three times its recent base, accompanied by the single busiest volume day anywhere on the chart, though a good portion of that spike evaporated before the closing bell. What came next proved almost as striking as the spike itself. Instead of holding near those elevated levels, the stock tumbled over subsequent sessions down into the $130s, then spent roughly two weeks bouncing around unpredictably within a $130-to-$160 band as the market worked through what had just happened. Starting in early September, though, a different kind of move took shape: rather than another violent jump, shares began climbing steadily, forming a pattern of successively higher lows on their way to the current $169, a far calmer, more methodical ascent than the initial August explosion. MRNA Shares Are Jumping MRNA Price Action: Moderna shares were up 11.15% at $171.21 at the time of publication on Monday. The stock is approaching its 52-week high of $176.66, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Also: Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Futures Gain as Trump Issues Fresh Warning to Iran — MRVL, AAPL, ACN in Focus (UPDATED) Image: Shutterstock