Moderna’s (MRNA) Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough Drives Sharp Stock Rally Soumya Eswaran Mon, October 12, 2026 at 10:27 AM EDT 3 min read MRNA +0.21% ^GSPC -0.05% Trade Moderna on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Baillie Gifford & Co, an independent investment management firm, released its third-quarter 2026 investor letter for "US Equity Growth Strategy". The letter can be downloaded here. While AI safety and human control concerns dominated recent industry discussions, the quarterly letter highlights the massive, untapped potential of deploying existing AI capacity into industrial applications. The letter emphasizes identifying sustainable competitive advantages in business model integration over temporary semiconductor scarcity or raw model scale. Against this backdrop, the US Growth portfolio posted positive returns, outperforming the S&P 500 and Russell 1000 Growth indices by approximately four percentage points this quarter. This marks a continued recovery over the past six months, following a difficult end to 2025 and the onset of 2026, supported by fundamental company-level progress. YTD, the portfolio returned -6.7% (net) compared to the S&P 500 Index's 15.7%. Also, check the strategy's top five holdings to see its best picks in 2026.
In its Q3 2026 investor letter, Baillie Gifford US Equity Growth Strategy highlighted Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) as its largest positive contributor over the past year. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is a biotechnology company, focuses on developing messenger RNA medicines. On October 09, 2026, Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) closed at $225.00, with an $89.83 billion market capitalization. Reflecting the recent momentum, Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) posted a 662.56% YTD gain, trading within a 52-week range of $22.28 to $226.52.
Baillie Gifford US Equity Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in its Q3 2026 investor letter:
"It has been a rollercoaster ride investing in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) since IPO in 2018 and holding through significant highs and lows. Remaining patient and focusing on the long-term potential at the trough was particularly challenging. But that patience has proven to be valuable. Following the sharp recovery in its share price, we reduced the position by 50 percent and reinvested the profits across the portfolio. This is a good example of us applying some of our enhanced portfolio construction guidelines and lessons from the last seven years. Moderna remains an early-stage opportunity and will continue to be volatile, which is reflected in its position size in the portfolio.
Moderna contributed strongly and remains the largest positive contributor over the past year. Its personalised melanoma treatment delivered positive late-stage results alongside Keytruda in August, providing important evidence that the company's mRNA platform can extend beyond infectious diseases. Shares rose sharply on the news."
Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 49 hedge fund portfolios held Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) at the end of the second quarter, down from 52 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
In another article, we covered Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and noted its rejoining the NASDAQ-100. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
