MW In a rare move, Wall Street analysts get pointed in their criticism of RFK Jr.

By Bill Peters

'He's ventured far outside of his swim lane,' Cantor Fitzgerald analysts say. 'It's time to take him out of the pool.'

Two Wall Street analysts on Monday called on the Trump administration to "re-evaluate" Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s role as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, saying his "apparent anti-science and libertarian agenda" threatened public health.

The analysts, from Cantor Fitzgerald, made the remarks after Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration's main vaccine regulator, announced his resignation last week amid friction with Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, saying Kennedy wanted "subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."

"We call on the administration to re-evaluate RFK Jr.'s role at HHS," the two analysts, Josh Schimmer and Eric Schmidt, said in a research note. "Pushing out one of the most trusted leaders of the FDA to promote an anti-science agenda is a step too far for us."

"RFK Jr.'s apparent anti-science and libertarian agenda is putting people'slives in jeopardy to advance a discredited theory on vaccines," they added.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Criticizing a government official in such direct language is rare in the notes that Wall Street analysts send to clients. But that language, later on in the note, became even more pointed. The analysts said their criticisms had nothing to do with politics, stocks or financials, but public health, as concerns grow about a recent increase in measles cases and as vaccine skepticism endures.

"We are not proud to have RFK Jr. at HHS," they said. "He is steering this country into dangerous territory based on his own whims and invalidated beliefs. While some had hoped he would stay focused on food and fitness, he's ventured far outside of his swim lane. It's time to take him out of the pool."

The FDA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. As Bloomberg News noted, former Cantor Chief Executive Howard Lutnick is currently the secretary of commerce under Trump.

Marks, in a letter on Friday, said his resignation from the FDA and departure as director of the Center of Biologics Evaluation and Research would take effect April 5. He first joined the FDA in 2012. The Cantor analysts described him as someone who was often lenient toward new drug approvals, but they praised what they said was his transparency and commitment to data.

Marks' announcement sent vaccine-related stocks lower on Monday. Shares of Moderna Inc. $(MRNA)$ declined 8.9%. Novavax's $(NVAX)$ stock closed down 8.4%.

Truist analysts, in a note on Monday, said "we expect companies with vaccine businesses to be volatile this week" as investors process Marks' resignation. And they raised questions about the future state of COVID-19 vaccines and said any replacement of Marks who turned out to be a "yes-person may expand the influence of RFK Jr.'s vaccine rhetoric."

Elsewhere, Stifel analysts, in a note on Saturday, said Marks' departure "was arguably biotech investors' greatest fear with the Trump administration."

They added: "While it seems that the direct disagreements here were over vaccines, the implications for biotech stocks could be far-reaching, given Dr. Marks' commitment to FDA transparency and flexibility."

The takes from analysts came as markets remain jittery amid President Donald Trump's efforts to reshape global trade agreements - purportedly in an effort to bring back more jobs to the U.S. - and cut government spending. Some 1,900 scientists, in a letter on Monday, said they saw "real danger in this moment."

Elsewhere, other Wall Street analysts have taken a sharper tone in recent remarks about policy. As Elon Musk helps with efforts to cut government spending while running Tesla Inc. $(TSLA)$, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a well-known Tesla bull, called on Musk this month to "step up" in his leadership of the electric-vehicle maker.

-Bill Peters

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March 31, 2025 18:25 ET (22:25 GMT)

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