The Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates for the first time in years, and more hikes are expected. Inflation remains high and the war in Iran shows no sign of ending. Three stocks rose sharply when the Fed last raised rates aggressively, in 2022. ExxonMobil gained more than 80%, Merck 45%, and Super Micro Computer nearly 87%, while the S&P 500 fell more than 19%. ExxonMobil is up about 50% this year and yields 2.4%. Merck is up around 40% and yields 2.3%. Super Micro is up only 8% this year. Its auditor resigned in 2024, and its co-founder was charged this year with smuggling Nvidia chips to China.

Merck shares fell 1.24% to $147.66 at 10:24 ET on November 2, even as Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target on the stock to $155 from $145. The firm kept its Neutral rating. Cantor cited encouraging results and pipeline progress, though purchase timing helped some quarterly figures. Merck's October 29 release put sales of its drug Winrevair at $694 million, up 93%. That is roughly 3.8% of the company's $18.1 billion in total revenue. The Keytruda franchise brought in $8.6 billion. Winrevair is growing fast but remains a small contributor. Sustained dollar gains will matter more than the percentage jump.

Merck to present new data from its broad oral HIV portfolio and pipeline at HIV Glasgow 2026. Published on 11/02/2026 at 11:41 am EST S&P Capital IQ Merck announced that new data across its HIV treatment and prevention pipeline and portfolio will be presented at HIV Drug Therapy Glasgow 2026, taking place Nov. 8?11, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. Presentations will highlight Merck?s strategy to expand oral options in both HIV treatment and prevention, including data on once-daily IDVYNSO (doravirine/islatravir), the investigational once-weekly oral treatment regimens islatravir/lenacapavir (ISL/LEN) and islatravir/ulonivirine (ISL/ULO), and the investigational once-monthly oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) alimatravir (AMI, MK-8527). At HIV Glasgow, Merck will present Phase 3 subgroup analyses of once-daily IDVYNSO, including Week 48 resistance and weight analyses from Trial 53 comparing IDVYNSO to bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (BIC/FTC/TAF) in adults with HIV-1 who had not previously received antiretroviral treatment, as well as Week 96 patient-reported outcomes for IDVYNSO in adults with virologically suppressed HIV-1. Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted two supplemental New Drug Applications for IDVYNSO (doravirine and islatravir): one based on the Phase 3 Trial 053 in adults who had not previously received antiretroviral treatment and one based on the Phase 3 Trials 051 and 052 to include 96-week data in virologically suppressed adults. The FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) or target action date of April 22, 2027, for both applications. IDVYNSO (doravirine/islatravir) is a two-drug single-tablet regimen of 100 mg doravirine and 0.25 mg islatravir and is approved in the United States for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies per mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen with no history of virologic treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to doravirine. The investigational once-weekly oral regimen of islatravir and lenacapavir pairs Merck?s islatravir, a potent nucleoside analog with multiple mechanisms of action including HIV-1 reverse transcriptase translocation inhibition, with Gilead?s lenacapavir, a first-in-class capsid inhibitor that disrupts HIV-1 at multiple stages of its lifecycle. Data to be presented at HIV Glasgow from the Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 trials will include Week 48 safety and efficacy subgroup analyses across diverse demographic populations. ISLEND-2 data will also include Week 48 patient-reported outcomes and a qualitative substudy of participant and provider experiences with once-weekly dosing. These data further characterize Phase 3 safety and efficacy findings first presented at AIDS 2026, providing additional insight across patient subgroups, treatment experiences, and preferences with once-weekly oral therapy. Week 24 data from the Phase 2b MK-8591B-060 (NCT06891066) study that informed an updated population pharmacokinetic model of ulonivirine will be presented. The model characterizes exposure and activity over time to support dosing recommendations for the investigational once-weekly combination of ulonivirine 200 mg and islatravir 2 mg in adults living with virologically suppressed HIV-1. Phase 1 clinical pharmacology data on the absorption, metabolism, and excretion profile of investigational ulonivirine will also be presented. Alimatravir (AMI [MK-8527]), an investigational once-monthly oral PrEP, is being evaluated as a potential once-monthly oral prevention option for HIV-1 in two ongoing Phase 3 trials. Adult enrollment in both trials is now complete. Participant demographics will be presented from the adult cohorts of EXPrESSIVE-10 and EXPrESSIVE-11. Islatravir (MK-8591) is Merck?s potent nucleoside analog that blocks HIV-1 replication by multiple mechanisms including inhibition of reverse transcriptase translocation, resulting in immediate chain termination, and induction of structural changes in the viral DNA (delayed chain termination). It is being studied in multiple ongoing early and late-stage clinical trials of two-drug regimens in combination with other antiretrovirals for potential treatments for HIV-1. Islatravir is approved in combination with doravirine as IDVYNSO (doravirine/islatravir) in the United States and Japan as a once-daily, single-tablet regimen for adults with virologically suppressed HIV-1. It continues to be evaluated in Phase 3 trials in combination with Merck?s doravirine as a once-daily regimen for adults who had not previously received antiretroviral treatment; in combination with Gilead?s lenacapavir as a novel once-weekly oral treatment for HIV-1 in virologically suppressed adults (ISLEND-1 [NCT06630286] and ISLEND-2 [NCT06630299]); and in combination with Merck?s investigational NNRTI ulonivirine (MK-8507) in Phase 2b development (MK-8591B-060 [NCT06891066] and MK-8591B-062 [NCT07266831]) as a once-weekly oral regimen. Alimatravir (MK-8527), an investigational once-monthly oral PrEP, is being evaluated in two Phase 3 clinical trials. The Phase 3 EXPrESSIVE-10 trial (MK-8527-010, NCT07071623) is evaluating the safety and efficacy of alimatravir in adolescent girls and young women in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. EXPrESSIVE-11 (MK-8527-011, NCT07044297) is evaluating the safety and efficacy of alimatravir among people with greater likelihood of HIV-1 exposure in 16 countries. Adult enrollment in both trials is now complete. (C) S&P Capital IQ - Business Wire - 2026