The stock market suffered a bloodbath anew on Monday, with the Nasdaq plunging to its worst level in three years over concerns about the health of the US economy after the Trump administration acknowledged the possibility of a potential rough patch.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell the heaviest, down 4 percent, followed by the S&P 500, which declined by 2.7 percent. The Dow Jones, for its part, dropped by 2.08 percent.
Meanwhile, 10 companies managed to book modest gains, bucking the broader market caution. In this article, we have identified the names that led the charge and detailed the reasons behind their performance.
To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.
Stock market data on a laptop screen. Photo by Alesia Kozik on Pexels
10. Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ:ETSY)
Etsy grew its share prices by 3.95 percent on Monday to finish at $48.65 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting following an all-time low the trading day prior amid the lack of catalysts to boost investing appetite and a series of conservative ratings from investment firms.
In its latest earnings release, ETSY said that it experienced lower gross merchandise sales and a decrease in the number of active buyers during the fourth quarter of 2024. Consolidated GMS declined by 6.8 percent to $3.7 billion, while GMS from its marketplace dropped 8.6 percent to $3.3 billion as a result of pressures on consumer discretionary product spending, challenging year-over-year comparisons in a shortened holiday season, category mix, and a highly promotional and competitive retail environment.
The number of active buyers also dropped 2.6 percent year-on-year, while the active seller count decreased 10 percent during the same comparable period.
Several analysts also gave the company a conservative outlook. Jefferies, for instance, assigned the company a “hold” rating and a price target of $55; Deutsche Bank downgraded ETSY’s rating to “hold” and cut its price target to $43.
9. Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG)
Harley-Davidson extended its winning streak for a fourth straight day on Monday, adding 4.02 percent to finish at $27.14 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting after touching a new record low last week.
Over the past few trading days, HOG traded at low levels mainly due to a broader pessimistic sentiment as a result of the ongoing trade war and concerns about the further impact of tariffs on its already dwindling sales.
Last year, HOG reported disappointing earnings performance, with net income attributable to the company declining by 36 percent to $455 million last year from $707 million in 2023, while swinging to a net loss of $117 million in the fourth quarter from the $26 million net profit in the same period a year earlier.
Revenues for the full year also dropped by 11 percent to $5.187 billion from $5.836 billion, while revenues in the fourth quarter declined by 35 percent to $688 million from $1.05 billion.
8. Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)
Equinor rallied by 4.23 percent on Monday, the second straight day, to close at $24.15 each as investor sentiment was fueled by news that the company, alongside its partners Okea and Pandion Energy, have successfully discovered new gas and condensate sources in its Mistral Sor exploration in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea.
According to EQNR, preliminary findings indicate that the discovery contained between 3 and 7 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent (o.e.), which corresponds to 19-44 million barrels of recoverable o.e.
“Norwegian gas is in high demand and is crucial to Europe’s energy security. That’s why it’s important for us to continue exploring and making new discoveries so we can maintain a high level of deliveries,” said EQNR Vice President for Exploration and Production North Grete B. Haaland.
7. NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE:NEE)
NextEra grew its share prices by 4.57 percent on Monday to finish at $76.16 apiece following a bullish comment from its chief that global power demand is expected to spike by 55 percent over the next 20 years.
At an energy conference in Houston, Texas on Monday, NEE Chief Executive Officer John Ketchum said that some 17 percent of the projected demand is expected to come from power-hungry data centers that are crucial in the boom of the artificial intelligence industry.
He added that costs for gas-fired power generation have more than tripled with the already growing demand, making renewable energy cheaper and more available at the moment.
“We’re going to need it all. We’re going to need renewables. We’re going to need gas. We’re going to need nuclear,” Ketchum said.
The CEO added that NEE is looking at recommissioning the Duane Arnold nuclear facility in Iowa—one of the potential restarts in the United States.
6. The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)
The AES Corp. grew its share prices by 4.71 percent on Monday to end at $11.78 each as investor sentiment was buoyed by bullish analysts’ outlooks for the company.
Last week, Bank of America upgraded AES’ rating to “neutral” from “underperform” previously, raising its price target to $13 from $11.
The bank said AES’ revised strategy, which involves capital spending cuts and a more achievable renewables growth target, improves its execution visibility. However, Bank of America underscored that risks for AES remain regarding asset sales and funding constraints.
Meanwhile, Mad Money host Jim Cramer earlier suggested it was “time to pick up” AES stock.
“What is that, 5 percent yield? It’s down way too low. I think it’s time to pick up that utility,” Cramer said.
Earlier, AES announced that it would expand its renewable energy capacity by bringing more than 3 GW of renewable energy online in 2025.
5. WillScot Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WSC)
WillScot Holdings saw its share prices increase by 6.02 percent on Monday to end at $29.76 each as investors bought up on an analyst’s bullish outlook for the company following its recently concluded Investor Day.
On Monday, William Blair analyst Tim Mulrooney maintained his bullish stand for WSC, giving it a “buy” rating based on several factors, including its WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings’ proactive approach to enhancing its operational and market capabilities.
During the investor day, the company demonstrated its commitment to growth by focusing on both organic and inorganic opportunities, with a notable increase in potential growth from $1.0 billion in 2021 to a projected $2.5 billion this year.
“Today, we see [$2.5 billion plus] of revenue growth opportunity, with margins expanding to 50 percent, which we can achieve by executing known initiatives,” the company said.
4. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)
Kratos Defense rose by 6.93 percent on Monday to end at $29.18 apiece as investors took heart from news that its OpenEdge 2500 integration-ready digitizer has achieved official Digital IF Interoperability (DIFI) compliance.
The DIFI Digital IF/RF Standard is intended to accelerate industry transformation beyond stove-piped, hardware-based systems and into digital software-defined networks.
The adoption of the standard provides network operators with the ability to choose the best of breed products with standards-based digitization.
KTOS’s OpenEdge 2500 helps satellite antenna makers digitally enable their products by converting radio frequency (RF) signals into Internet protocol (IP) data streams. The DIFI compliant digital signal is easily incorporated for use into modern software-defined communications networks. The digitizer can be embedded within any antenna, terminal, or Universal Customer Premise Equipment (uCPE).
3. Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA)
Mueller Water saw its share prices increase by 7.39 percent on Monday to end at $26.90 apiece, driven by an optimistic outlook and higher price targets from analysts.
At present, MWA holds buy and hold ratings from several analysts, with a high consensus target of $33 and a median of $29, which represent a 22.7-percent and a 7.8-percent upside, respectively, from its current price.
The bullish outlook followed MWA’s impressive earnings performance during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025.
In a statement on Wednesday, MWA said net income during the quarter jumped by 146.9 percent to $35.3 million from the $14.3 million registered in the same period a year earlier.
Net sales improved by 18.7 percent to $304.3 million from $256.4 million year-on-year, primarily due to increased volumes at Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions and higher pricing across most product lines.
For the fiscal year 2025, Mueller said it was increasing its guidance on net sales to between $1.37 billion and $1.39 billion, or a projected increase of between 4.2 percent and 5.7 percent compared with the year prior.
2. Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)
Veren Inc. jumped by 16.09 percent on Monday to end at $5.7 apiece following news of a $10.43-billion merger deal with Whitecap Resources.
According to reports, the merger would mark the biggest deal in the Canadian oil and gas industry and will see the two firms become the largest landholders in the Montney and Duvernay regions in Alberta.
Additionally, the merger will see a combined capacity of 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
“We are more resilient and better able to manage the current macro environment, including the ongoing threat of tariffs and commodity price volatility,” Whitecap CEO Grant Fagerheim was quoted as saying in a report by Reuters. The transaction is expected to close in May 2025.
1. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)
Protagonist Therapeutics surged by 45.89 percent on Monday to finish at $55.95 each as investor sentiment was buoyed by the positive result from the phase 2b study of icotrokinra (JNJ-2113), a drug candidate which it partnered with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.
According to PTGX, the study met its primary endpoint of clinical response in all icotrokinra dose groups evaluated.
Additionally, the study demonstrated clinically meaningful differences versus placebo in key secondary endpoints of clinical remission, symptomatic remission, and endoscopic improvement at Week 12.
“We are thrilled with the impressive results of once daily oral icotrokinra in the ANTHEM Phase 2 ulcerative colitis study, broadening the potential utility of this first-in-class and only-in-class oral IL-23 receptor antagonist from psoriasis to inflammatory bowel diseases,” said PTGX President and CEO Dinesh Patel. ”Icotrokinra has the potential to transform the treatment landscape in UC through its distinctive profile of efficacy, safety, tolerability, and convenience of a once-daily oral treatment. We eagerly await icotrokinra’s further progression into more advanced clinical studies in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.”
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