Moderna Soars, SK Hynix Jumps, Estee Lauder Gains

Today's biggest winners and losers in the stock market, a look at the notable movers:
On this episode of Stock Movers:

-Moderna (MRNA) shares surged, delivering a $5.5 billion blow to short sellers who had bet that the vaccine maker's slump would continue. The company's stock price soared 177% after it said its personalized cancer vaccine helped reduce the recurrence of melanoma in a late-stage trial. The jump generated paper losses of about $5.5 billion for short sellers, bringing mark-to-market losses to roughly $7.7 billion this year, according to data from S3 Partners LLC.

- SK Hynix (KS) unveiled plans to buy back 40 trillion won of shares and return more profits to investors, moving to stabilize its shares after they fell more than 50% in two months. The memory chipmaker will buy back as many as 24 million shares between Aug. 20 and Nov. 19 and cancel them, and raised its shareholder return pledge to more than 50% of cumulative free cash flow from 2025 to 2027. SK Hynix’s buyback plan is partly aimed at appeasing Korean retail investors who were upset by the company’s decision to issue new shares for its US listing, rather than through existing treasury stock, which diluted their local holdings.

- Estée Lauder (EL) shares jumped after its results beat estimates and ended a run of three straight declines in annual revenue. The company reported revenue of $3.6 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter and adjusted earnings per share of $0.39, which topped expectations. The company reaffirmed guidance for organic net sales growth and raised guidance on its adjusted operating margin, with analysts saying a steady recovery is underway.

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