10 Firms Buck Market Slump on Impressive Earnings, New Deals

The stock market ended the trading week in the red territory following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would begin slapping tariffs against major US trading partners.

The Dow Jones shed 0.75 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.50 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.28 percent.

Ten companies bucked a wider market decline amid a flurry of positive catalysts that sparked buying appetite. In this article, we will take a look at which companies posted notable gains and explore the reasons behind their performance.

To come up with Friday’s gainers, we only considered those with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.

A man in long sleeves looking at stock market data. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

10. Flagstar Financial Inc. (NYSE:FLG)

Shares of Flagstar Financial rose for a second day on Friday, adding 6.96 percent to its valuation to close at $11.83 as investor sentiment was boosted by an improvement in its earnings performance for the past quarter and full year of 2024.

While still operating at a loss, Flagstar was able to narrow its net losses by 97 percent during the fourth quarter to only a $0.34 loss per share versus the $11.27 recorded in the same period last year.

The figure was also 57 percent lower than the $0.79 booked in the third quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Flagstar was able to reach $625 million in revenues during the period, beating analysts’ projected revenues of $558.6 million.

By next year, Flagstar said it targets to finally swing to profitability, supported by a $600 million expense reduction plan and the sale of its non-core mortgage business to move to higher-margin businesses.

9. Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)

Rigetti Computing saw its share prices on Friday grow by 7.07 percent to end at $13.17 per share as investor sentiment was boosted by reports that President Donald Trump sat down with Nvidia Corp. chief executive officer Jensen Huang to discuss measures for the further development of artificial intelligence in the US.

Rigetti Computing, a quantum computing company, stands to benefit from any move to bolster AI, especially with Huang’s earlier pronouncements that Nvidia would play a significant role in the development of quantum computers and push it toward getting there as fast as possible.

Earlier this month, Trump announced a $500-billion partnership among three companies—OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, to further develop AI in the US.

The companies were said to initially pour in $100 billion to start the project called Stargate, with plans to expand it to $500 billion in the coming years. The project is expected to create 100,000 US jobs, Trump said.

8. Celestica Inc. (NYSE:CLS)

Celestica Inc. resumed a four-day winning streak on Friday, rising by 8.16 percent to finish at $123.47 apiece as investor sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected earnings last year coupled with an improved outlook for 2025.

In a statement released late Wednesday, Celestica said revenues for the fourth quarter of the year jumped by 19 percent to $2.55 billion, topping analyst expectations of $2.49 billion.

Earnings per share during the same period surged to $1.29 from 77 cents year-on-year.

Looking ahead, Celestica said it raised its full-year outlook as a reflection of its strengthening demand in Connectivity and Clouds Solutions (CCS) segment.

“We now anticipate revenue of $10.7 billion, an increase from our previous outlook of $10.4 billion, and non-GAAP adjusted EPS of $4.75, up from our previous outlook of $4.42,” Celestica said.

“Overall, the current demand environment for data center hardware is robust, as evidenced by recent customer forecasts as well as new AI program awards over the last 90 days, including our second and third 1.6T program wins. As such, we believe the positive momentum we are experiencing will continue beyond this year, and into 2026.”

7. Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ:CRDO)

Credo Technology grew for a fourth day on Friday, adding another 8.39 percent to its valuation to finish at $70.02 apiece as investors gobbled up shares amid various bullish reports in the company.

Over the past six months alone, Credo Technology was able to grow its value by nearly 150 percent. Its current valuation also marked a 207.91 percent increase over the past year.

Earlier this month, Mizuho Financial analyst Vijay Rakesh raised his price target for Credo Technology by 21 percent to $85 from $70 previously and kept an “outperform” rating on the company.

According to Rakesh, he sees continued strength in artificial intelligence, custom silicon, and connectivity, the benefits of which will create a ripple effect in the company. He added that AI will benefit memory and storage.

Credo Technology is a company engaged in providing secure, high-speed connectivity solutions that deliver improved power and cost efficiency as data rates and corresponding bandwidth requirements increase exponentially throughout the data infrastructure market.

6. Hims & Hers Health Inc. (NYSE:HIMS)

Telehealth giant Hims & Hers saw its share prices grow for a fourth day on Friday, up by 9.78 percent to close at $37.28 each over a wave of positive sentiment fueling buying appetite.

Just last week, Hims & Hers’ 20-day moving average crossed into a bullish trend. The upward movement is being supported by a longer-term trend, showing that the stock is gaining strength.

According to analysts, the company’s share price is now breaking through the $37.50 price as it tries to test a new resistance of $40.

In other news, the company is embarking on a new Super Bowl advertisement theme to encourage weight loss in between predicted commercials for fast food and snacks.

Set to air during the third quarter of Fox’s Super Bowl LIX on February 9, the new commercial will highlight the brand’s weight-loss medications including those featuring Semaglutide, the active ingredient in well-known drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

5. Frankin Resources Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources saw its share prices grow for a second day on Friday, jumping 10.37 percent to close at $22.24 apiece as investor sentiment was buoyed by better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings performance.

During the quarter ending December 2024, Franklin Resources said it swung to a net income of $163.6 million from a net loss of $84.7 million during the third quarter of 2024. The figure, however, was lower by 35 percent than the $251.3 million reported in the same period a year prior.

Operating income was at $219 million during the period, as compared with an operating loss of $150.7 million for the previous quarter and operating income of $206.5 million in the same period last year.

Revenues were also higher at $2.25 billion than the analysts’ consensus of $1.71 billion.

In a statement, Franklin Resources President and CEO Jenny Johnson said the earnings performance demonstrated progress across key growth areas, enabling the company to meet the evolving needs of its clients, amid heightened market volatility.

4. AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile jumped for a second day on Friday, adding 11.15 percent to close at $20.24 apiece after securing the Special Temporary Authority approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would enable the company to test its first five commercial BlueBird satellites.

FCC’s approval would support AST SpaceMobile’s voice, full data, and video applications and other native cellular broadband capabilities for AT&T and Verizon.

“The FCC USA regulatory approvals represent a pivotal moment for AST SpaceMobile as we advance toward delivering seamless space-based cellular broadband connectivity,” said Vikram Raval Global Head of Regulatory Affairs of AST SpaceMobile.

For his part, AST SpaceMobile Chief Commercial Officer Chris Ivory said: “Alongside integration efforts with partner networks we are installing five gateways in the United States, and we are now accelerating our path to commercial activity, starting with testing service with off-the-shelf cellular handsets on AT&T and Verizon networks.”

3. Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ:TEAM)

Atlassian Corp. jumped by 14.92 percent on Friday to finish at $306.78 each after posting improved earnings performance for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Late on Thursday, Atlassian said it was able to narrow its net loss by 55 percent to $38.2 million from the $84.5 million registered in the same period a year ago.

Net loss per diluted share was $0.15 for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, compared with a net loss per diluted share of $0.33 for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024.

Revenues were higher by 21 percent at $1.29 billion versus the $1.06 billion year-on-year.

However, operating loss was higher by 17 percent at $57.5 million versus $49.1 million.

For the next quarter of fiscal year 2025, Atlassian Corp. expects revenues to settle between $1.34 billion and $1.35 billion, with the cloud business expected to contribute a significant chunk of the total figure at 23.5 percent, and the data center at 7 percent.

2. Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

Viavi Solutions jumped by 20 percent on Friday to end at $12.04 apiece after posting better-than-expected earnings performance in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.

In a statement, Viavi Solutions said revenues grew by 6 percent to $270.8 million from the $254.5 million registered in the same period last year. The official figures beat analysts’ expectations of $260 million.

Net income for the period, however, came in lower at $9.1 million versus the $10.7 million year-on-year. Analysts were expecting $13.2 million or earnings per share of $0.60.

For the third quarter, Viavi is looking for revenue of $276 million to $288 million, and adjusted earnings of 10 cents to 13 cents a share. Analysts are looking for revenue of $282 million, and adjusted earnings of 12 cents a share.

1. Cipher Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:CIFR)

Cipher Mining became Friday’s biggest winner, having booked a 21.91-percent gain to close at $5.73 apiece as news of securing worth $50 million in fresh funds sparked buying appetite.

In a statement, Cipher Mining said SoftBank invested $50 million in Cipher Mining through the purchase of approximately 10.4 million Cipher Mining shares.

The company said proceeds from the investment would be used for its high-performance computing data center initiatives.

“This investment comes at a pivotal moment in Cipher’s growth trajectory, as the Company continues to attract attention for its pipeline of sites and innovative solutions in industrial-scale data centers,” Cipher Mining CEO Tyler Page said.

“Softbank’s focus on innovation in technology and AI development aligns with our vision to establish ourselves as a leader in HPC data center development,” he added.

While we acknowledge the potential of CIFR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CIFR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap.

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