As shares of Moderna and Merck surge on new vaccine trial data, we speak to a top analyst about why he thinks the move higher is very difficult to rationalize. Then, Former CEA Chair Jason Furman discusses the Treasury Department&#x27;s new debt buyback operations. Plus, we bring you the details of Chinese robotics company Unitree soaring in its public debut in Shanghai.<br><br>Squawk on the Street Disclaimer<br><br>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

11AM Hour: Moderna and Merck Shares Surge, Former CEA Chair Jason Furman & Chinese Robotics Company Soars in Shanghai Debut 8/19/26

Squawk on the Street

[SPEAKER_03] Good Wednesday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Leslie Picker here at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Sarah Eisen is off today. Yields pulling back. That's the big story from those multi-year highs. We're going to discuss the impact of this new government buyback operation with former CEA Chair Jason Furman.

[SPEAKER_09] Then shares of Moderna and Merck are surging today. Big moves there on the heels of positive vaccine trial data. We'll speak to an analyst who says while the results are great, the huge move higher. It's very difficult to rationalize.

[SPEAKER_03] He'll explain why he's skeptical. Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitary surging in its public debut in Shanghai. With that IPO signals for the Chinese tech market at large as we got some session highs going on here. Dow's up 320, back to 77.41. Most sectors are green with the exception of some IT and industrials. Healthcare up 3% as we're going to get to that Moderna news later on. Let's begin though with a new report looking into OpenAI's financials.

[SPEAKER_03] Thanks for that. We'll turn once again to Kate Rooney. Morning, Kate.

[SPEAKER_01] Hey, Carl. Good morning. So OpenAI reportedly seeing deeper losses in the second quarter, at least while sales grew sequentially. That double digit growth was outshined by rival Anthropic, which is also poised to go public. The Wall Street Journal now with some new numbers overnight. The ones that really stand out, guys, are these operating margins, which sank further into the red at least in the second quarter.

11AM Hour: Moderna and Merck Shares Surge, Former CEA Chair Jason Furman & Chinese Robotics Company Soars in Shanghai Debut 8/19/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

11AM Hour: Moderna and Merck Shares Surge, Former CEA Chair Jason Furman & Chinese Robotics Company Soars in Shanghai Debut 8/19/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.