Extreme makeover, pro edition… Home-improvement chains saw monster sales during the pandemic as we spent weekends building Zoom-worthy home offices. Now the experts are taking over. Home Depot's pro biz (think: drywall, drill rentals) has topped DIY as homeowners outsource their paint jobs to contractors (who spend more $$ than DIYers). Last quarter, rival Lowe's raised its sales forecast, partially thanks to a 16% spike in pro sales. We’ll see if it can keep boosting the bottom line for Lowe’s and the Depot when they report this week.
Market vax-uration… Biotech newcomer Moderna’s looking for its next move. The company used its novel mRNA “platform” to quickly make a Covid vax, and sold an estimated $15B+ of jabs last year. But Moderna’s biz is vulnerable since it makes only one product, and sales growth is slowing as vax rates plateau. Shares are down 70% from their September peak, and now Moderna’s spending billions to boost production abroad and add potential blockbuster HIV and flu drugs to its pipeline. We’ll see how those investments are tracking when Moderna reports on Thursday.