Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

• Worries about regulatory headwinds weighed on vaccine producers on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, while a chip design software maker got a boost from a partnership with an AI darling. 
• Moderna shares dropped after a report that U.S. health regulators plan to adopt a stricter process for approving vaccines.
• Shares of Synopsys, which specializes in software used in the semiconductor design process, powered higher following the announcement of a collaboration with Nvidia.

A major vaccine producer came under pressure following a report federal health regulators plan to tighten vaccine approval rules. Meanwhile, an agreement with the world's most valuable company bolstered a software firm whose products help customers design and test semiconductors.

Major U.S. equities indexes lost ground to start December after a strong week to end November. The Nasdaq slipped 0.4%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, and the Dow dropped 0.9%. See here for more from Investopedia on the day's market moves.

Shares of Moderna (MRNA), which makes the bulk of its revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine, tumbled 7% to lead losses on the S&P 500 after a report the Food and Drug Administration plans to overhaul its process for evaluating vaccines, requiring more evidence of safety and efficacy prior to approval. Novavax (NVAX), BioNTech (BNTX), and Pfizer (PFE) also slid.

Shares of Sandisk (SNDK), a maker of memory cards and other data storage products, dropped close to 6%. With the move lower Monday, Sandisk reversed gains last week on enthusiasm for the stock's S&P 500 debut. Despite the decline to start December, Sandisk shares have still notched big gains since the company completed its spinoff from Western Digital (WDC) in February, bolstered by AI-driven memory demand.

Despite showing signs of a possible recovery last week, the price of Bitcoin (BTCUSD) and other major cryptocurrencies plunged Monday. Shares of crypto exchange operator Coinbase Global (COIN) fell about 5%, while shares Robinhood Markets (HOOD), which offers access to crypto on its trading platform, lost 4%.

Synopsys (SNPS) was the best-performing stock in the benchmark index Monday as shares jumped around 5% after the provider of electronic design automation software announced an expanded partnership with AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA). Under the terms of the deal, Nvidia is investing $2 billion in Synopsys, and the two companies will collaborate on agentic and physical AI applications. Nvidia stock added 1.7%.

Shares of footwear and apparel company Deckers Outdoor (DECK) rose 4.5%. Late last month, analysts at Stifel upgraded Deckers stock to "buy" from "hold," pointing to an upbeat growth outlook for the company's Hoka shoe brand, solid demand for the Ugg brand, and a strong international sales. The company offered rare discounts on Hoka sneakers for Black Friday.

A pair of transport and logistics companies also got a boost following bullish comments from analysts at BMO Capital. Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) shares each added over 3% after BMO analysts issued "outperform" ratings for the stocks.

• Eli Lilly said Monday it is reducing the price of its Zepbound weight-loss drug on its platform LillyDirect.
• The move comes about a month after the company announced a deal with the Trump administration to lower weight-loss drug costs.

Eli Lilly (LLY) said Monday that it's lowering the price of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound, about a month after striking a deal with the Trump administration to lower drug costs.

The company said the price for a once-a-month single vial purchased through its LillyDirect digital health care platform will go down $50 for the 2.5-, 7.5-, 10-, 12.5-, and 15-milligram doses, and $100 for the 5-milligram dose. The prices range from $299 for the lowest dose to $449 for the highest.

Lilly’s decision to lower Zepbound pricing comes amid growing political pressure on the company to make its weight-loss drugs more affordable.

The move follows a White House meeting in November, where the president and Lilly CEO David Ricks announced plans to make the company's weight-loss drugs more affordable and accessible.

As part of that deal, Lilly will make Zepbound and obesity pill Orforglipron available for no more than $50 a month for Medicare recipients starting next April, pending Food and Drug Administration approval.

In addition, the company agreed that for new medicines, it would take “a more balanced pricing approach across developed nations.”  The Trump administration agreed to give Lilly three years of relief from tariffs, and it will not be subject to future pricing mandates.

Shares of Eli Lilly slid about 2% amid broader market losses Monday, after hitting an all-time high last week. They've added over a third of their value in 2025.

• The Magnificent Seven's earnings growth accelerated in the third quarter, when analysts yet again underestimated Big Tech's potential.
• AI investments are expected to support growth, especially for chipmaker Nvidia, but growing concern about an AI bubble could temper the market's appetite for more AI spending.
• Wall Street is also raising the bar for the Mag 7, with growth expectations for the next year now well above what analysts were predicting a few months ago.

At first glance, the Magnificent Seven had a bit of a stinker of a third quarter. But dig deeper, and there’s reason to believe Wall Street is underestimating tech's heavy hitters.

The Mag 7—Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA)—reported third quarter earnings growth of 18.4%, the group’s slowest growth rate since the first quarter of 2023, according to FactSet Research analyst John Butters.

But that figure comes with a big caveat: Meta’s profit plummeted from the previous year after it booked a $16 billion tax charge. Exclude that one-time expense, and profits actually grew 30%. Not only is that twice as fast as Wall Street was expecting heading into earnings season, it’s also faster than the prior quarter when earnings were up 26%. 

“The third quarter saw a slight acceleration in Mag Seven earnings growth, suggesting to us that estimates over the next couple of quarters could be too low,” wrote LPL Financial analysts in a recent note.

The Magnificent Seven has been the main driver of S&P 500 earnings growth for several years. Wall Street has been predicting a slowdown for more than a year, but the tech giant's have repeatedly topped expectations.

Wall Street has been predicting a slowdown in Mag 7 growth for more than a year, but the group keeps blowing past expectations, thanks in large part to artificial intelligence. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet all signaled that they expect to continue aggressively investing in AI infrastructure next year.

LPL’s analysts expect those investments to support corporate profits “because—assuming they happen—they are revenue for someone.” The primary “someone” is Nvidia, which dominates the AI chip market and last month topped estimates with its sales, profit, and earnings outlook. 

AI spending has been more of a liability than an asset for the Mag 7 recently. Investors are concerned that tech giants are overspending—or, at best, inefficiently spending—on a nascent technology that they may struggle to monetize for some time. To many on Wall Street, the AI buildout is looking more and more like the Dotcom Bubble of the 1990s. 

“Given these hyperscalers are spending around 25% of revenue on capex, and their capex is draining free cash flows, Wall Street may demand more proof of return on investment going forward,” wrote LPL’s analysts. 

Wall Street is also recalibrating its expectations. As of late November, analysts predict the Mag 7's earnings growth will average 21% over the next four quarters, up from just 15% at the end of August.

Among Mag 7 stocks, only Alphabet and Nvidia, which have gained 66% and 33%, respectively, since the start of the year as of Monday afternoon, have risen more than the S&P 500's 16% year-to-date increase.

Episode 271 of the Investopedia Express podcast with Caleb Silver (Dec. 1, 2025)

Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / PlayerFM

It may be a headline-driven market, but the charts and patterns inside the capital markets always tell the truth. We go inside the most important charts, patterns, and formations in technical analysis with Patrick Dunuwila of The Chart Report. Plus, the melt up in the stock market has also been accompanied by a big surge in implied volatility. What that tells us about the fragility of the stock market right now. 

• Shares of several major vaccine makers lost ground Monday following a report U.S. vaccine approval rules could become stricter. 
• An internal Food and Drug Administration memo last week reportedly linked COVID-19 vaccines with child deaths and proposed new regulatory measures.

A report that vaccine approvals could be set to get stricter is pressuring shares of major vaccine makers.

Moderna (MRNA), Novavax (NVAX), BioNTech (BNTX), and Pfizer (PFE) all lost ground Monday, following a report that an internal Food and Drug Administration memo last week proposed new regulatory measures.

An email to staff from Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said that data from 2021 to 2024 showed at least 10 children died “after and because of receiving COVID-19 vaccination,” The New York Times reported late last week. Prasad also outlined plans in the email to propose a range of new oversight and review processes for vaccines, without naming any specific vaccine makers, according to the report.

The memo by Prasad, who was appointed in May following the abrupt resignation of Peter Marks over disagreements with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has added fuel to expectations vaccine makers could face an increasingly challenging regulatory environment.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, did not respond to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication.

More demanding review processes could make it more difficult for vaccine makers to complete trials, make treatments, and bring them to market.

William Blair analysts told clients in a note Monday that they expect new regulatory restrictions would add to headwinds for Moderna, along with Pfizer and BioNTech.

Moderna, which derived the bulk of its revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine in the third quarter, was among the S&P 500's biggest decliners Monday afternoon, with shares down nearly 7%. BioNTech dropped close to 5%, while Pfizer slid about 2%.

• Airbus said it is near completion of fixing a software issue that had grounded 6,000 of its A320 aircraft.
• Reports on Monday indicated the European plane maker had found an issue with the fuselage in dozens of planes.
  

Airbus on Monday announced that the vast majority of its A320 passenger jets have been fixed after a software problem led to the grounding of 6,000 of the planes, but the European aircraft maker may have another issue.

Airbus said fewer than 100 A320s still need updates to address concerns that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.” It explained that it is working with its customers “to support the modification.”

The A320 is one of the most widely used passenger jets in the world, so software glitches or manufacturing issues can create ripple effects across air travel. And with Airbus aiming to deliver roughly 820 jets this year, any slowdown increases the chances of the company missing its production targets and financial goals.

Meantime, Reuters has reported that the company has discovered an issue with the fuselage in dozens of planes. Sources tell the news agency that it’s a suspected production flaw that is delaying some deliveries. However, there are no signs that aircraft currently in service are impacted, the sources said.

Reuters cited industry sources that indicated Airbus had delivered 72 of the A320s last month, below analysts’ estimates. That would bring the 2025 total to 657, while the company has targeted a total of about 820.

Airbus shares are down in European trading. Shares of several U.S. airlines, down earlier this morning, are little changed in afternoon trading.

• Silver prices rose to record highs for the second consecutive trading day on Monday, driven by tight supply and growing investor demand.
• Deutsche Bank expects exchange-traded funds' silver holdings to hit a record high next year as rate cuts boost demand on Wall Street.

The price of silver rose to an all-time high on Monday, boosted by tight supply and expectations for future interest rate cuts. 

Silver futures rose more than 3% to surpass $59 per troy ounce for the first time today, extending a run that saw the precious metal close at a record last Friday. With Monday’s gains, silver prices have doubled since the start of the year, outpacing gold, which is up about 60% year-to-date. 

Silver’s rally has been driven by limited supply and rising investor demand. The cost to lease silver—the preferred way to acquire the metal for industrial uses—rose to its highest since 2002 this year, indicating an extraordinary shortage, according to a recent Deutsche Bank report. The firm’s analysts predict that the supply of silver available for industrial use is currently its tightest on record. 

The price of silver has surged this year amid growing demand from investors seeking safe havens. The rally in silver and gold, which is also favored for its safety, could reflect anxiety about the economic outlook and recent stock market weakness.

Investors seek silver exposure for both its safe haven attributes and its real-world uses. The economic uncertainty that has fueled this year’s historic gold rally is likely also buoying silver. The metal’s also supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month, increasing liquidity in financial markets and raising the appeal of non-yielding assets such as gold and silver. 

Deutsche Bank expects demand from investors to grow next year, further diminishing industrial supply. They expect exchange-traded funds to hold about 1.1 billion troy ounces of silver by the end of 2026, surpassing a record high set in 2021.

Investors could also be buying silver in anticipation of demand surging amid the global push toward green energy. Silver is used in solar energy technology and electric vehicle batteries, which are both expected to be in high demand for the foreseeable future. 

Deutsche Bank forecasts silver prices will average about $55 an ounce next year, up from about $38 so far this year. Though prices could disappoint if the Fed, concerned that inflation is accelerating above its 2% target, lowers interest rates less than expected.

• Many Americans have been holiday shopping for weeks and will make final decisions tonight as Cyber Monday specials come to an end.
• Total retail spending is on track to surpass last year's numbers, but people are buying fewer items as prices rise.

It's last call to finalize your haul.

Cyber Monday spending may peak from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. today as Americans make decisions before sales end and collectively spend some $16 million per minute, Adobe said. Online shoppers will have spent $14.2 billion by the day's end or about 6% more than last year, the software company estimates.

Retail spending over the holiday weekend exceeded Adobe's estimates, and other analysts also believe consumer spending appears strong. They've had more time to analyze the situation: many Americans started holiday shopping early this year and were scouring for sales ahead of Black Friday, said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.

"Consumers now expect comparable deals to happen earlier during Cyber Week and many are not waiting to hit the buy button," Pandya said in a statement. "Cyber Monday has essentially become ‘last call’ for big discounts during the holiday season."

Americans are spending more money on fewer items, potentially because they're "trading up," Adobe said. But inflation and tariffs may also be a factor. Promotions were similar or less generous than last year at more than 70% of the retail companies tracked by J.P.Morgan, analysts said Monday.

Retailers and merchants are generally offering similar or less significant discounts than they did last year, analysts said. While you may be able to save, be careful that you don't feel pressure to act now because of a promotion that's less advantageous than it seems.

Online shoppers tended to check out with fewer items and order volume fell 1% year-over-year on Black Friday, while average prices increased 7%, said Salesforce, a software company. Through the weekend and early Monday, order volume rose 1% year-over-year, but prices were up 5%, according to Salesforce.

"On the surface, sales were strong," said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, but "shoppers continued to feel the bite of inflation."

Athletic clothing and shoes, luxury apparel, luggage sets, smart watches and toys, such as Pokémon cards, stuffed animals and mystery blind box items, were popular purchases, the analysts said.

Holiday spending may surpass $1 trillion for the first time, according to the National Retail Federation, and a chillier winter forecast may help. But much of the growth may come from wealthy Americans, while others try to limit their spending.

Cooler temperatures through December may be "a positive for store traffic and basket trends, particularly following a relatively warm initial start to Fall/Winter," J.P.Morgan said.

Major U.S. equities indexes lost ground Monday afternoon, as shares of tech and cryptocurrency-related companies pulled back. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slid about 0.2%, while the Dow dropped 0.4%.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) was one of the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, with shares down about 6% as the price of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies fell. Shares of Robinhood Markets (HOOD) dropped close to 5%.

Shares of vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA) slumped 6% following reports an official with the the Food and Drug Administration called for a stricter vaccine approval process.

Sandisk (SNDK) shares plunged close to 7%, reversing last week's gains on enthusiasm for its addition to the S&P 500.

Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) climbed about 6% and 4% respectively, following bullish comments from BMO Capital. The bank gave both stocks an “outperform” rating, pointing to Old Dominion benefiting from its less-than-truckload focus and J.B. Hunt’s cost savings and intermodal volumes, among other things.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) shares gained around 4% as Goldman Sachs put the casino operator on its conviction buy list. Goldman said Wynn has a best-in-class business in Las Vegas, and should benefit from improvements in Macao.

Shares of Synopsys (SNPS) climbed 4% after chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) said it's investing $2 billion in the maker of semiconductor and circuit design software as part of a partnership.

Oil and gold futures rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 4.09%. The U.S. dollar lost ground to the euro, pound, and yen.

• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are losing ground Monday, while stocks related to the industry are also slumping.
• Bitcoin fell sharply in November, as uncertainty in the markets led some investors to shed riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies tumbled Monday morning as risk-averse sentiment returned to financial markets.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at $84,200 recently, down from a weekend high of around $91,000. Other digital assets, including ether and solana, were also down sharply.

Crypto-related stocks also retreated, with shares of trading platform operators Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) each dropping more than 6%, making them among the top decliners today in the S&P 500. Shares of Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, plunged 11%, while bitcoin miner Mara Holdings (MARA) fell 8%.

Cryptocurrency moves can indicate how investors feel about the broader market. Assets such as bitcoin tend to rise in stable markets when investors are more comfortable taking risks, but can fall sharply when volatility is high and investors have less of an appetite for risk.

The price of bitcoin swung wildly in November—hitting a high near $110,000 early in the month before sliding as low as $82,000 a few weeks later—as volatility gripped financial markets, weighing heavily on assets that are perceived as risky.

Strategy CEO Phong Le said in an interview released last week that the company would consider selling bitcoin to fund things like stock dividends if its mNAV, a metric that tracks the value of its bitcoin holdings to the company's market capitalization, falls below 1.00. Strategy's mNAV was at about 1.1 recently.

“There’s the mathematical side of me that says that would be absolutely the right thing to do, and there’s the emotional side of me, the market side of me, that says we don’t want to really be the company that’s selling bitcoin,” Le said. “Generally speaking, for me, the mathematical side wins.”