These 10 Firms Were Thursday’s Top Performers

8. Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna Inc. (MRNA) rose for a fourth day on Thursday to grow by 10.10 percent at $42.39 apiece as investors continued to snap up shares in the company following news that it bagged a new $590 million deal to develop and accelerate the creation of a bird flu vaccine.

While bird flu used to be more of an agriculture concern, the latest data said that 66 humans were already confirmed to have contracted the flu, with at least one individual succumbing to the virus.

The new bird flu vaccine deal marks the second deal the company bagged after the $176-million H5N1 avian influenza virus awarded earlier.

Moderna was previously awarded funds to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and has been struggling to keep its pandemic-era revenue levels.