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Donald Trump Campaigns In Michigan In Final Days Before Election
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a Donald Trump campaign rally at Macomb Community College on November 1, 2024, in Warren, Michigan (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
vax attacks

Options bets against healthcare stocks spike to three-year high as Trump picks RFK Jr. as health secretary

Companies that played a big role in Operation Warp Speed are being dumped by traders.

Luke Kawa

President-elect Donald Trump is putting forward Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. The side effects for US healthcare stocks so far include symptoms more severe than nausea and an upset stomach.

Companies that developed vaccines — as part of President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed in 2020 — that facilitated a return toward normality and mitigated the worst possible mortality outcomes from the pandemic are now seeing significant selling pressure.

Shares of Moderna, BioNTech, Novavax, Vaxcyte, and Pfizer slumped late on Thursday when Politico initially reported this nomination. All are continuing to retreat this morning.

Kennedy Jr. has previously questioned the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

Immediately following the election, JP Morgan Asset Management Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy Michael Cembalest warned about the potential for RFK Jr. to “take on some kind of advisory role in the administration with respect to public health,” and put forward this along with a list of links detailing Kennedy Jr.’s stance on the issue.

“Vaccines have been one of the most successful achievements in the history of human health, as confirmed by declining case counts after their introduction,” he wrote.

JPMAM on vaccines
Source: JPMorgan Asset Management

The S&P 500 Biotech Index is the second-worst-performing industry group since the election, off 9% through Thursday, while healthcare is at the bottom of the sector leaderboard since the November 5 vote with a retreat of 2.3%.

Put volumes (that is, bearish options bets) on the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF spiked to a more than three-year high on Thursday.

The biggest trade in the most actively traded put option came before the Politico report was published.

We would consider reaching out to Cembalest to get his take now that the RFK pick is official, but he closed his note by writing, “Please excuse me while I retreat to my undisclosed location given RFK’s potential impact on public health and the scientific method.”

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Nvidia poised to invest $20 billion in OpenAI, per report

Nvidia is close to investing $20 billion in OpenAI’s funding round, per Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

That would make its OpenAI stake more than the market value of chip designer’s entire portfolio of publicly traded stocks (a little over $15 billion, assuming no changes since their most recent filings).

Media reports have suggested that Amazon and SoftBank would be contributing even more to this oft-discussed funding round, in which the Sam Altman-led venture is aiming to raise $100 billion.

It’s a fairly happy ending after the two sides traded barbs in the press over the past few days, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had privately questioned the “lack of discipline” in the ChatGPT maker’s business approach, while sources told Reuters that OpenAI was “unsatisfied” by the performance of Nvidia’s AI chips and seeking alternatives.

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Chipotle beats Q4 estimates, but sinks on underwhelming full-year guidance

Chipotle reported earnings results that beat Wall Street estimates, but gave underwhelming full-year guidance.

For the last three months of 2025, Chipotle reported:

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.25, compared to the $0.24 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

  • Revenue of $3 billion, a bit higher than the $2.9 billion the Street was penciling in.

  • A comparable-store sales decline of 2.5%, less than the 2.9% decline the Street was expecting.

For the full year in 2026, Chipotle expects:

  • Comparable-store sales to be flat, compared to the 1.7% growth analysts were expecting.

Chipotle has struggled to spark sales over the past year and has previously cited strained consumers as a major headwind. The company fell more than 9% in after-hours trading shortly after the report was released.

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Take-Two raises its net bookings outlook, reaffirms November release for “Grand Theft Auto 6”

“Grand Theft Auto” and “NBA 2K” maker Take-Two reported results for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday. Its shares climbed about 4% in after-hours trading.

The company posted net bookings, or the amount customers spent on its products, of $1.76 billion, up 28% from the same quarter last year. Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.58 billion. In November, Take-Two guided for Q3 net bookings of between $1.55 billion and $1.6 billion.

Take-Two hiked its full-year bookings outlook to between $6.65 billion and $6.7 billion, up from a range of $6.4 billion to $6.5 billion. The new outlook compares to Wall Street’s $6.47 billion estimate. The gaming giant trimmed its full-year net loss guidance to between $369 million and $338 million (prior guidance: between $414 million and $349 million).

In its last quarter, Take-Two pushed back the planned release date of “Grand Theft Auto 6” from May 2026 to November 19, 2026. The company reaffirmed that date in Tuesday’s report. The game’s last trailer came in May 2025.

Shares of Take-Two and other major gaming companies have been sinking since late last week as investors react to early showcases of Google’s Project Genie, which allows users to generate interactive, “playable” worlds with a text or image prompt. As of Tuesday’s close, Take-Two has shed nearly $6 billion in market cap since Project Genie was released.

Analysts have called the market reaction unjustified, saying that the tool doesn’t allow for meaningful interactivity or replay-ability. According to mBank analyst Piotr Poniatowski, Project Genie is — at the moment — essentially a “one-minute-long walking simulator generator.”

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