These 2 Stocks Are Bucking The Broader Market Selloff To Hit New Multi-Year Highs — Here’s What’s Driving The Enthusiasm

• Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company has ‘never been’ a COVID-19 vaccine company, pointing instead to its broader mRNA platform.
• Morgan Stanley sees Twilio as ‘best exposed’ to higher communication volumes that could be generated by AI agents.
• TD Cowen raised its Twilio price target to $300 from $260, citing demand opportunities across SMS, voice and WhatsApp.

Moderna (MRNA) and Twilio (TWLO) defied the broader market selloff on Wednesday to hit new milestones, as investors cheered Moderna’s growing mRNA opportunities beyond COVID-19 vaccines and Twilio’s potential to benefit from rising communication demand driven by AI agents.

At the time of writing, TWLO shares were up 2.4% to their highest level since November 2021, while MRNA stock was up 1.2% to its highest level since January 2023.

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.8%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was down 1%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.6%.

MRNA CEO Says Broader Strategy Based On mRNA Technology Platform

Speaking at Bernstein’s Healthcare Forum on Wednesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company has “never been” a COVID-19 vaccine company, emphasizing that its broader strategy has always centered on its mRNA technology platform, according to The Fly.

Bancel said Moderna sees mRNA as a technology that can be used to develop treatments across multiple diseases. Chief Development Officer David Berman said the company is now focused on three main areas: vaccines, oncology and rare diseases.

The comments come as Moderna looks to demonstrate the potential of mRNA beyond infectious diseases, particularly in cancer.

Last month, the company reported positive Phase 3 results for Intismeran Autogene, its personalized mRNA-based cancer therapy, developed in collaboration with Merck (MRK). Moderna will also present data on the mRNA-based drug at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in October.

Retail sentiment surrounding MRNA on Stocktwits remained ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours. The stock has soared more than 496% so far this year.

TWLO Can Benefit From Meta’s Muse Launch, Says Analysts

Analysts highlighted Twilio as a potential beneficiary of the growing popularity of consumer AI agents. Morgan Stanley said Meta’s (META) recently launched Muse could increase communication volumes as AI agents complete more tasks on users' behalf, potentially creating additional demand for Twilio’s services.

Meta launched Muse earlier this month as a personal AI agent that can take actions for users, including sending emails, booking travel, shopping and filling out forms. The product has quickly gained traction, reportedly overtaking ChatGPT to become the top free app on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in the U.S. and Canada.

Morgan Stanley called Twilio “best exposed” to the potential increase in communication volumes from AI agents, although it sees the opportunity as a stronger medium-term growth driver rather than an immediate boost to estimates.

TD Cowen was also bullish, raising its Twilio price target to $300 from $260 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating, according to The Fly. The firm said AI assistants could generate significantly more communication traffic, increasing demand for Twilio’s SMS, voice and WhatsApp services.

Retail sentiment surrounding TWLO on Stocktwits remained ‘extremely bullish’ over the past 24 hours, amid ‘high’ message volumes. The stock has surged more than 111% in 2026.

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