Wolfspeed bankruptcy, Moderna vaccine, Palo Alto Q3 earnings

In This Article:

According to Wall Street Journal reporting, semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed (WOLF) is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

Moderna (MRNA) rescinded its application for a combination flu-COVID vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with plans to resubmit following additional trial data.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) shares slide lower Wednesday morning after disappointing investors with its fiscal third quarter earnings results.

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here.

00:00 Seana Smith

It's now time for some of today's trending tickers. This morning, we're watching Wolf Speed, Moderna and Palo Alto Networks. First up, The Wall Street Journal reporting Wolf Speed is preparing to declare bankruptcy in the coming weeks. Shares of the semiconductor manufacturer falling over 60% after that report, they're down now over 70%. Earlier this month, Wolf Speed issued a weak revenue outlook and shared it was exploring options for restructuring its debt or potential bankruptcy as it faces slowing demand and what they call tariff related uncertainty. Brian Levitt's still here with us. And obviously, this comes as semiconductors in general have been experiencing at least a little bit of volatility, you could say. To what extent do you think this is some kind of signal for semiconductors versus something specific to Wolf Speed?

00:46 Brian Levitt

Well, I think it it highlights the notion of increasing competition out of China, which is something that we forget about this year, right? The Deepseek story was a big deal early in the year and we forgot about it because of tariffs and because of the the big beautiful bill. So so that becomes more of a challenge. But you're also seeing some of it is more cyclical. A company that had a significant debt level that's now facing slowing demand in certain parts of the economy. So I don't think it means that this is the end of the end of the line for US semiconductor businesses. It's it's a little bit more idiosyncratic to Wolf Speed, but certainly also reflective of the increased competition in the space.

01:30 Seana Smith

Yeah, and I take that point too with regards to what we heard from Jensen Huang as well, talking about how these chip curbs, they're kind of making the competition easier for China instead of harder. So it's definitely an important context to keep in mind. But next up here, we're going to talk about Moderna confirming it is voluntarily pulling its application for a combination flu and COVID vaccine for adults 50 years old and older. In a statement, Moderna confirming it plans to resubmit the application after receiving additional results from a phase three trial on its MRNA flu vaccine that is expected this summer. Earlier in the month, Moderna said it was seeing potential approval for the shot coming in 2026. So shares off just about 4%, but it makes me think more broadly, Brian, about what we're seeing in the health care sector and a little bit of the underperformance that we've seen as well.

02:24 Brian Levitt

Yeah, there's a lot of uncertainty in that sector in terms of where I I think we should do a shot every time we say uncertainty now.

02:34 Seana Smith

Exactly. Exactly. It'd be a tough show.

02:37 Brian Levitt

Maybe be more fun. But we know where are we where are we going with with regards to the pricing of these drugs in terms of the approval of these drugs? I mean, you hear even some analysts are saying now that they're talking to businesses where they'll call the FDA and and nobody's answering the line on the other side. So so there's some challenges in that um that's that's a bit of a headwind to the sector.

03:08 Seana Smith

Right. And a sector that was supposedly going to be this safe haven area of the market. And then of course, you got pharma tariffs still unfolding here. All right, finally, shares of Palo Alto Networks falling after the company's third quarter results disappointed investors. That is despite the cybersecurity company's earnings and outlook coming in line with expectations. The stock off nearly 7% here. And this comes after a slew of headwinds for this company. I just want to take a look at the performance year to date. It is still just above the flat line, but it hasn't necessarily borne out the success story for investors that we were once looking at at the prior all-time highs here. Uh and it makes me wonder how you're thinking broadly about cyber in this moment as well.

03:56 Brian Levitt

It's still a it's still a long-term structural trend. I mean, this is not cybersecurity is not going to become less of a problem. It's going to become more of a problem in the years um as as things become more automated, as artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of our lives. Um I I see this as a as a long-term structural growth trend.

04:25 Seana Smith

Yeah, and certainly a sector to continue to watch. For our audience, you can scan the QR code below where you can try out the best and worst performing stocks with Yahoo Finance's trending tickers page.