Moderna, Walmart and Strategy drive retail buzz after news flow
Retail traders focused on Moderna, Walmart, Strategy, Broadcom and SpaceX this week, with Moderna on positive Phase 3 cancer vaccine data, Walmart on fiscal second-quarter results, and Strategy on a stock sale and unchanged Bitcoin holdings.
Retail investors talked up five hot stocks during the week (Aug. 17 to Aug. 21) on X and Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, earnings, AI infrastructure momentum, and corporate news flow. Moderna Inc.
(NASDAQ: MRNA ), Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT ), Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR ), Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV ), and Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
(NASDAQ: SPCX ), biotech, pharmaceutical, retailer, Bitcoin treasury, semiconductor, AI, and space sectors, reflected strong retail interest. Moderna On Aug. 19, MRNA with Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK ) announced a positive Phase 3 INTerpath-001 result for their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran, in high-risk resected melanoma.
The therapy met its primary endpoint of improved recurrence-free survival and a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival—the first successful late-stage readout for an mRNA cancer vaccine—sending MRNA shares surging more than 177% that day. However, it was followed by a sharp profit-taking pullback on Aug. 20, with analysts raising targets and the company planning regulatory discussions. Few retail investors were contemplating whether MRNA would rebound as it corrected after the 177% explosion.
66, trading around $132 to $139 per share, as of the publication of this article. 34% in the last six months. 09% year-to-date. According to Edge Stock Rankings, MRNA was maintaining a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long term.
Walmart On Aug. 87. S. 9 billion in tariff refunds for price cuts sent shares down roughly 9%.
Retail traders were mocking WMT’s decline as it dragged all the indices down following its second-quarter results. 16, trading around $102 to $105 per share, as of the publication of this article. 57% in the last six months. 79% YTD.
Edge Stock Rankings showed that WMT had a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a solid quality score. 4 billion. A few retail investors who missed the MSTR rally following the BTC surge were regretting their decision. 21, trading around $111 to $124 per share, as of the publication of this article.
24% in the last six months. 03% YTD. MSTR maintains a weak price trend over the long and medium term but a strong trend in the short term, as per Edge Stock Rankings. Broadcom This week, AVGO shares faced pressure early on from lingering concerns over an actively exploited VMware vCenter security vulnerability and AI backlog financing.
The stock then dropped after rival Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL ) announced a major custom AI chip development deal with Alphabet Inc. ’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) Google, including warrants potentially linked to up to ~$120 billion in purchases, raising fears of eroded exclusivity in Google’s TPU ecosystem despite Broadcom’s existing long-term supply agreement through 2031. The stock later stabilized as analysts downplayed the competitive threat amid Broadcom’s strong AI revenue momentum, with the company also promoting its VMware Explore 2026 event.
While most retail investors had a bearish view on AVGO, some were confident about AVGO’s trajectory. 00, trading around $363 to $370 per share, as of the publication of this article. 18% YTD. According to Edge Stock Rankings, AVGO was maintaining a strong price trend over the long term but a weak trend in the short and medium terms, with a poor growth score.
SpaceX SPCX shares rallied early this week on institutional ownership disclosures, with heavy stakes from Alphabet, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA ), and others. Recent Falcon 9 launches and momentum reclaiming near its IPO price also aided, but it faced pressure mid-week from competitive news about China’s LandSpace reusable rocket landing and anticipation of dilution. The key event was the Aug, 20 unlock of roughly 319 million shares, which added supply and sent the stock lower.
Most retail investors were highly bearish on SPCX stock this week. 64 since listing, trading around $133 to $136 per share, as of the publication of this article. 16% in the last five trading sessions. According to Edge Stock Rankings, SPCX was maintaining a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms.
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