BTIG analyst Mark Massaro raised the firm’s price target on Tempus AI to $80 from $70 and kept a Buy rating.

  • Much of the optimism around TEM stems from Tempus’s agreement last month to buy Personalis for $1.5 billion.
  • Personalis’s tools identify unique markers in a patient’s cancer cells, enabling Moderna to craft a custom mRNA vaccine that targets those exact features. 
  • Massaro pointed to Tempus’s confirmation that it plans to handle gene sequencing once the Moderna and Merck personalized cancer vaccine receives U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.


Shares of Tempus AI Inc (TEM) jumped 9% on Thursday, continuing its rally from the previous day, after Wall Street hiked its price target on the stock in light of recent positive trial updates from Moderna and Merck on their cancer vaccine.

The stock is now on track to clock its best week since April 2026, if gains hold.

BTIG Lifts Target On Sequencing Opportunity

BTIG analyst Mark Massaro raised the firm’s price target on Tempus AI to $80 from $70 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating. The new price target implies a potential upside of about 31% from the stock’s last closing price.

Massaro pointed to Tempus’s confirmation that it plans to handle gene sequencing once the Moderna and Merck personalized cancer vaccine receives U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. He described the work as opening nearly a new “pharma services” revenue line for the precision medicine company.

Personalis Acquisition Adds Key Technology

Much of the optimism stems from Tempus’s agreement last month to buy Personalis (PSNL) for $1.5 billion. Personalis focuses on detailed genetic analysis of tumors. Its tools identify unique markers in a patient’s cancer cells, enabling Moderna to craft a custom mRNA vaccine that targets those exact features.

Tempus already worked with Personalis on cancer monitoring tests. The full purchase would bring that sequencing capability inside Tempus and position the company as the go-to provider for the vaccine program. The deal is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.

Vaccine Trial Success Spotlights The Deal

On Wednesday, Moderna and Merck announced that their late-stage study of the vaccine combined with Merck’s Keytruda met its main goal. The treatment reduced the chance of melanoma returning or spreading after surgery. The result marked a major step forward for personalized mRNA cancer therapies and highlighted the value of the sequencing platform Tempus is acquiring.

How Did Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TEM stock jumped from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ levels while message volume rose from ‘high’ to ‘extremely high’ levels.

A Stocktwits user cheered the company’s decision to buy Personalis.

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Another envisioned a major rally when the company goes cash flow positive. As of the second quarter of 2026, the company continued to report negative operating and free cash flow, though cash burn has narrowed sharply. Tempus aims to turn cash flow positive by the end of 2026.

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TEM stock has gained 14% year-to-date. 

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