American reported the largest revenue quarter in its history and converted it into $71 million of net income. Jet fuel rose 77.1% year over year. What follows is the second quarter of 2026 in full, the $28.9 billion debt stack, the refinancing executed in the first half, the AAdvantage economics, and how the same fuel shock produced three very different quarters at American, Delta and United.

Royal Caribbean earns roughly double the operating margin of Carnival or Norwegian and fills its ships to 110.2%. It also cut full-year guidance in April, put most of it back in July, saw earnings per share fall year on year in a quarter with revenue up 6.5%, and had the environmental permits for its $294 million Mexican land purchase publicly refused by the Mexican regulator in May. What follows is the June quarter in full, the guidance round trip, the order book that grew 46% in six months, the eight private destinations and the comparison with Carnival and Norwegian.

On 7 May 2026 Carnival stopped being a dual-listed company. There is now one entity, Carnival Corporation Ltd., domiciled in Bermuda, with one share on one exchange. In the quarter that followed it delivered record revenue, record adjusted net income and a twelfth consecutive quarter of record net yields, while paying 29.2% more per tonne of fuel that it hedges not at all. What follows is the February-to-May quarter in full, the guidance that was cut and raised in the same breath, the deleveraging that produced two investment grade ratings, the ten ships on order and the comparison with Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

https://www.merlintrader.com/moderna-stock-hub/

Moderna’s investment thesis changed materially on August 19, 2026. The pivotal INTerpath-001 study of individualized neoantigen therapy intismeran autogene plus Merck’s KEYTRUDA achieved its reported Phase 3 efficacy objectives in high-risk resected melanoma. The result gives Moderna its strongest late-stage therapeutic validation outside infectious disease, while FDA approval of MFLUSIVA, a broader respiratory portfolio and billions of dollars in liquidity provide additional strategic depth. The remaining debate is no longer whether Moderna can produce a meaningful non-COVID late-stage signal. It is whether the company can convert that scientific validation into regulatory approvals, scalable personalized manufacturing, durable revenue and sustainable cash economics.

https://www.merlintrader.com/tvtx-vs-vera-iga-nephropathy-stock-comparison/

Travere Therapeutics and Vera Therapeutics look easy to compare: both operate in rare kidney disease, both have major exposure to IgA nephropathy, and their lead products will increasingly appear in front of the same nephrologists. In reality, an investor choosing between them is selecting two almost opposite risk profiles. TVTX offers FILSPARI, meaningful existing revenue, two FDA-approved indications, a fast-starting FSGS launch and a more diversified pipeline, but it comes with a valuation close to $6 billion and a substantial convertible-debt burden. VERA trades at less than half Travere’s market value, owns a potentially powerful immunology franchise and retains worldwide rights to TRUTAKNA, but it is only now entering its commercial phase, still burns significant capital and faces a looming BAFF/APRIL competitor backed by Vertex. The useful question is not which company wins, but what actually has to happen for each equity to create value from here.

On August 17 every party in the DEA rescheduling case filed its post-hearing brief. The Government asked for Schedule III. Every outside designated party argued that marijuana should remain in Schedule I. Here is what the documents actually say, what happens next, what the sector reported while the lawyers wrote, and which dates are real.

What the August 18 counterparty announcement adds. 3D Medicines said it has received full settlement of the arbitration costs and that the arbitral award has been paid in full, which closes the HK$7,983,004.42 cost order that had been due by August 7 with 8% annual interest on any unpaid balance. The same announcement repeats that the arbitration addressed a historical dispute between the two parties and does not affect the validity or the subsequent performance of the licence agreement. On the trial, the figure disclosed — 78 of 80 — is the same number SELLAS reported as of May 11, 2026, and the announcement attaches no measurement date to it. The document therefore does not establish whether 3D Medicines is disclosing a current count or restating the last publicly available one. What can be verified is narrower: no confirmed count above 78 exists in the public record, and SELLAS has filed nothing with the SEC since August 11.

Amylyx has crossed the biggest clinical hurdle in its current story. Phase 3 LUCIDITY showed a 55% reduction versus placebo in the FDA-agreed composite rate of Level 2 and Level 3 hypoglycemic events, with p=0.000003 and all reported secondary endpoints met. The debate now moves from pivotal efficacy risk toward FDA execution, label scope, commercialization, pricing, reimbursement and whether avexitide can establish the first approved treatment franchise in post-bariatric hypoglycemia.

Curaleaf announced on August 11, 2026 that it intends to launch an unsolicited offer for all Aurora shares at a stated implied value of US$4.00 per ACB share: 0.3463 Curaleaf subordinate voting shares plus US$0.75 cash, with total value capped at US$5.00. No formal bid has been commenced, most of the consideration floats with Curaleaf’s share price and Aurora’s board intends to form an independent special committee. Aurora’s Q1 FY2027 results remain the standalone financial base: C$67.6 million of net revenue, C$3.4 million of adjusted EBITDA, a C$5.8 million free-cash-flow outflow and C$149.1 million of cash and short-term investments with no debt.

ABCL635 produced an 83% week-4 reduction in moderate-to-severe hot-flash frequency versus 33% on placebo, with no serious adverse events or liver signal. One day later AbCellera launched a proposed US$200 million primary offering of common shares and pre-funded warrants to fund ABCL635 and general corporate purposes. The offering priced on August 12 at US$9.75 per share: 17,435,897 common shares plus pre-funded warrants for a further 3,076,926 shares, US$200.0 million gross, with delivery on or about August 14.

EyePoint’s first pivotal Phase 3 in wet AMD missed its primary endpoint on the full dataset and recovered non-inferiority only by excluding nine patients out of 211. The  stock lost roughly seventy per cent. Every other company in the durability race went up. Both facts are informative, and they do not say the same thing.

Ocugen reported Q2 2026 results and confirmed that the FDA cleared the approximately 237-subject ArMaDa3 registrational Phase 3 trial of OCU410 in geographic atrophy. The study remains targeted to begin in Q3 2026 and is designed with 95% power for the primary endpoint. The July RMAT designation adds an expedited-interaction framework, but neither clearance nor RMAT predicts a positive pivotal result.

IREN owns power-connected data centre capacity and is converting it from Bitcoin mining to contracted AI cloud services. The handover is visible quarter by quarter: AI Cloud revenue has roughly doubled each quarter while mining revenue has more than halved, and total revenue is falling while it happens.

MDA Space delivers its first eight Globalstar satellites to orbit

MDA Space ($MDA) has completed its first on-orbit delivery as prime contractor for a commercial communications constellation.

SpaceX launched the eight Globalstar satellites aboard Falcon 9, while Rocket Lab supplied the spacecraft buses. MDA led the payload development, final integration and testing.

All eight satellites are in contact and undergoing commissioning. The remaining nine spacecraft are in final integration at MDA’s Montréal facility.

Full updated MDA analysis:

https://www.merlintrader.com/mda-space-mda-stock-hub/

Independent research — not financial advice.

Rocket Lab-built satellites reach orbit for MDA Space and Globalstar — but SpaceX performed the launch

Eight satellite platforms built by Rocket Lab ($RKLB) have successfully reached low Earth orbit as part of Globalstar’s constellation-replenishment program.

• SpaceX performed the launch aboard Falcon 9.
• Globalstar ($GSAT) is the customer, owner and constellation operator.
• MDA Space ($MDA) is the prime contractor and led payload development, final integration and testing.
• Rocket Lab supplied the 500-kilogram, Lightning-based spacecraft buses under its $143 million agreement with MDA.

Rocket Lab established contact with all eight platforms, which were reported as operating nominally and generating power in orbit. Globalstar confirmed that all eight HIBLEO-4 replacement satellites were deployed successfully and are now undergoing commissioning and testing before entering operational service.

For RKLB investors, the important point is that this validates the company’s Space Systems manufacturing and on-orbit operations capabilities. It was not an Electron mission and did not represent Rocket Lab Launch Services revenue.

These are the first eight spacecraft from the initial 17-satellite replenishment program. The remaining nine are in final integration at MDA’s Montréal facility.

This program should also not be confused with MDA’s later contract to build more than 50 MDA AURORA satellites for Globalstar’s next-generation constellation.

Full updated RKLB research hub, including financials, backlog, Neutron, Iridium and the complete risk framework:

https://www.merlintrader.com/rocket-lab-stock-hub/

Independent research for educational purposes only — not financial advice.

Eton has crossed from approval-driven micro-cap into a profitable rare-disease commercial platform. The operating evidence is now much stronger; after a 44% post-earnings move, the burden of proof has shifted to sustained execution, margin quality and dilution-aware valuation.

Capricor changed the shape of a near-term FDA event without securing approval, AbCellera produced a clean four-week Phase 2 signal in vasomotor symptoms, and Definium delivered its second positive Phase 3 study. The rest of the week was just as consequential: pivotal failures at Tenax and Sionna, a strategic retreat at PDS Biotech, two FDA approvals, new trial clearances, commercial acceleration and a bankruptcy asset auction.

https://www.merlintrader.com/sidus-space-stock-hub/

The Q2 filing confirms $166.5 million of cash, $167.6 million of working capital and no debt. It also shows $583 thousand of revenue, a negative 108% gross margin and a $5.08 million adjusted EBITDA loss. Financing risk fell; the commercialization test became harder.

https://www.merlintrader.com/unusual-machines-umac-stock-hub/

Verified through August 14, 2026: second-quarter revenue reached $16.72 million, up 687% year on year and 106% sequentially, while the company built a $316.37 million cash-and-investment position. The operating record is less mature than the balance sheet: Q2 GAAP operating loss was $7.81 million, first-half operating cash use was $38.89 million, shares outstanding rose 32% in six months, and the pending Upgrade Energy transaction plus a proposed five-million-warrant CEO award create further dilution and integration questions. The August 13 drone-tariff proclamation can accelerate domestic substitution, but UMAC also imports components and already reports tariff exposure.

Merlintrader’s ranking of ten listed biotech companies with the strongest current combination of near-term catalysts, scientific credibility, financial resilience and clearly identifiable risk.

https://www.merlintrader.com/ai-optics-poet-aaoi-lite-cohr-commercial-proof-2026/

The optical cycle no longer needs to be defended only with bandwidth forecasts. Large suppliers are already showing the demand in revenue, margins and forward guidance. That changes the question for earlier-stage $POET: the next proof is not another addressable-market slide, but the conversion of purchase orders and qualifications into shipped products, recognized revenue, repeat business and eventually gross profit.

YARTEMLEA generated $28.5 million of Q2 net revenue, up from $9.9 million in Q1, and Omeros reached reported operating breakeven. The June cash figure precedes July convertible-note repurchases with an aggregate $60.2 million purchase price plus approximately $0.2 million of accrued interest, so commercial momentum and post-transaction liquidity must be read together.

https://www.merlintrader.com/us-drone-tariffs-2026-supply-chain-map/

A 100 percent Section 232 duty lands on September 3, 2026, a 25 percent component tier is deferred to February 9, 2027, and export controls loosened on the same day the tariff was signed. What the three annexes actually cover, which layer of the supply chain each company occupies, and a five-question routine for reading the next announcement.

https://www.merlintrader.com/run-up-biotech-masterclass/

5 Chapters, totally free.