Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Moderna, Pilgrim's Pride, Target, gold miners & more

Cnbc · Aug 19, 2026 · 549 words · By Davis Giangiulio; Fred Imbert

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What to know about Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Moderna, Pilgrim's Pride, Target, gold miners & more

Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday: Moderna , Merck — Shares of the pharmaceutical companies surged after a personalized cancer vaccine between the two companies showed positive results in a late-stage trial .

Claims checked 25

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Moderna's skyrocketed 120%, while Merck's jumped 10%.

Common ground

Pilgrim's Pride — Shares rallied 15% after JBS, which owns more than 80% of the chicken producer, made a bid to acquire the remaining stock in the company.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Moderna, Pilgrim's Pride, Target, gold miners & more?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Mercury Systems — The maker of defense and aerospace electronics slid more than 6%?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-mrna-ppc-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 25 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 15

verified Verified By Reference 4

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

check_circle Corroborated 1

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Claim 1: “Mercury Systems — The maker of defense and aerospace electronics slid more than 6%.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “Adjusted operating income dropped 20% from a year earlier, landing at $18.7 million.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 3: “Moderna's skyrocketed 120%, while Merck's jumped 10%.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of unrelated sports scores (Philadelphia Phillies) and general company descriptions. There is no data regarding the specific stock percentage increases for Moderna and Merck.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Intismeran autogene (previously known by its investigational drug name mRNA-4157/V940) is an mRNA based cancer vaccine encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles. The 34 mRNA sequences in mRNA-4157/V94…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intismeran_autogene

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_&_Co.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Moderna, Inc. ( mə-DUR-nə) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a co…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moderna

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Fiscal first-quarter earnings came in at 43 cents per share on an adjusted basis, down 9% from the year-ago period.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “La-Z-Boy — The manufacturer of recliners tanked 16%.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 6: “Pilgrim's Pride was on pace for its best day since Aug. 13, 2021, when it jumped 21%.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided discusses the history of Pilgrim's Pride and Q3 2021 sales, but does not contain information regarding a 21% jump in shares on August 13, 2021.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lonnie Alfred "Bo" Pilgrim (May 8, 1928 – July 21, 2017) was the co-founder of Pilgrim's Pride, which at one time was one of the largest chicken producers in the United States. Pilgrim founded Pilgrim…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_"Bo"_Pilgrim

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is an American, multi-national food company, currently one of the largest chicken producers in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest chicken producer in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim's_Pride

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by the English nonconformist preacher John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most sign…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim's_Progress

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Robinhood advanced more than 6%, while bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and Mara Holdings gained 3% and 7%, respectively.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “Target — The retailer gained 5% after reporting better-than-expected revenues in its second-quarter financial report and hiking its full-year guidance.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “La-Z-Boy said current quarter revenue would range from $500 million to $520 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $536.8 million.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “it updated its full-year sales and earnings outlook to the bottom end of its prior guidance.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 11: “The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) jumped 9%, putting it on track for its best day since Nov. 4, 2022, when it advanced 10%.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided consists of unrelated YouTube support links and general ETF/VanEck Wikipedia entries. There is no mention of the specific price movements for GDX on the dates mentioned.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — VanEck is a global investment management firm headquartered in New York City. The firm is primarily engaged in issuing exchange-traded fund (ETF) products although it also deals with mutual funds and …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VanEck

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a table of notable American exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. As of 2020, the number of exchange-traded funds worldwide was over 7,600, representing about 7.74 trillion U.S. dollars in assets. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_exchange-trad…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a table of notable Australian exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_exchange-tr…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “The company also reported that it expects earnings of between $3.10 to $3.35 per share in fiscal year 2027, about in-line with FactSet estimates for between $2.95 to $3.42.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “Mercury Systems said that revenue for the fiscal year ending June 2027 would approach about $1.1 billion, versus the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.05 billion.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “CoStar and Alexandria Real Estate Equities were both up more than 6%.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While there is evidence that Alexandria Real Estate Equities exists and has had stock movements, there is no evidence provided regarding a specific 6% increase for both CoStar and Alexandria.

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web search NEUTRAL — Our business verticals ». Real Estate.As part of Alexandria's strategic efforts to address the mental health and addiction crises, it presented mission-critical panels at the 2022 and 2023 Galien Foru…
https://www.are.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Alexandria Real Estate Equities. NYSE: ARE. $51.29.Most Active Stocks Daily Stock Gainers Daily Stock Losers. Why Alexandria Real Estate Equities Was Diving This Week. One analyst felt compelled to do…
https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/10/31/why-alexandria-rea…

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web search NEUTRAL — Alexandria Real Estate Equities (($ARE)) has held its Q2 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.The company’s preliminary construction spending estimate for 2027 has increased to a…
https://www.tipranks.com/news/company-announcements/alexandr…

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Claim 15: “Estee Lauder — The beauty care manufacturer and marketer rose more than 16% after it reported adjusted earnings and revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter that beat consensus estimates, according to analysts polled by FactSet.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 16: “Pilgrim's Pride — Shares rallied 15% after JBS, which owns more than 80% of the chicken producer, made a bid to acquire the remaining stock in the company.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided includes general Wikipedia entries for JBS and Pilgrim's Pride and unrelated Amazon links, but does not mention a specific 15% rally or a bid to acquire remaining stock.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — JBS N.V. is a Brazilian multinational company that is the largest meat processing enterprise in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken, salmon, sheep, pork, and also selling by-products …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_N.V.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — JBS USA Holdings, Inc. is a meat processing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational JBS S.A. The subsidiary was created when JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with its p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_USA

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “Results were boosted by a $752 million boost to net earnings, or $1.65 per share, from tariff refunds.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 18: “Coeur and Hecla led the way higher with gains of more than 13% each.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided is entirely unrelated, consisting of Chinese government social security website links.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Aug 20, 2026 · 参保缴费服务养老待遇服务职业年金服务企业养老保险用人单位用工参保登记人员参保登记用人单位退工停保登记全国人社政务服务平台国家社保公共服务平台社会保障卡掌上12333
https://rs.jshrss.jiangsu.gov.cn/index/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 忘记密码？没有账号？立即注册.
https://rs.jshrss.jiangsu.gov.cn/web/login?redirect=/center/…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jul 10, 2026 · 江苏省人力资源和社会保障厅网上办事服务大厅，江苏人社厅一体化网上申报信息服务平台，可办理社保查询、城乡居民和灵活就业人员参保登记、社保转移、社保卡业务、社保补贴、技能补贴、就业补贴、失业金、档案查询、单位社保网上申报等各类人社业务。
https://m12333.cn/platform/rbu.html

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Claim 19: “Coinbase — Shares of the crypto trading platform surged 11% as bitcoin prices popped more than 5% to about $68,000.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this claim.

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Claim 20: “Adjusted earnings of 37 cents in the fourth quarter missed the FactSet consensus call by one cent.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 21: “Marvell Technology — The chipmaker was up more than 7% after it announced that it was giving Google permission to buy a $12 billion stake in the company as part of a deal to develop custom chips for the Alphabet subsidiary.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this claim.

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Claim 22: “Revenue for the second quarter also missed expectations”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 23: “Toll Brothers gained 7.1%, and D.R. Horton climbed 5.4%.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided consists of unrelated App Store links for Instagram and a Reddit community for a music group (ENHYPEN).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The subreddit community for I-LAND's debut group, ENHYPEN (엔하이픈)! News, updates, images, videos, discussions, and anything else that is related to ENHYPEN. ENHYPEN is HEESEUNG, JAY, JAKE, SUNGHOON, SU…
https://www.reddit.com/r/enhypen/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Download Instagram by Instagram, Inc. on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Instagram.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/instagram/id389801252

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Download Instagram by Instagram, Inc. on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips and more games like Instagram.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/instagram/id389801252

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Claim 24: “a personalized cancer vaccine between the two companies showed positive results in a late-stage trial”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (CNBC, LinkedIn, TRT World, and a general news search) confirm that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck showed positive results in a late-stage (Phase 3) trial for melanoma.

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+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 25: “Lowe's — Shares were up more than 3%”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.