A wave of selling gripped Wall Street this Friday, pushing major indices lower as investors shifted capital towards more attractive investment opportunities.
Ten companies bucked an overall bearish market sentiment, booking significant gains during the last trading day of the week. Let’s explore how they managed to buck the trend and what factors contributed to their remarkable performance amidst widespread market uncertainty.
A stock market data showing an upside trajectory. Photo by AlphaTradeZone on Pexels
10. Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ)
Shares of Mondelez International (MDLZ), a leading snacks company globally eked out a 0.60-percent gain on Friday to finish at $60.21 apiece.
Analysts said that investors placed buying positions on its shares while remaining in a wait-and-see mode over reports that it was set to acquire chocolate manufacturing giant Hershey Co.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Mondelez is re-exploring plans to acquire Hershey, in a potential deal that would create a combined turnover of $50 billion.
Mondelez has already indicated interest in purchasing Hershey twice, the first one being in 2016 when the chocolate manufacturer turned down the offer for $23 billion.
With Hershey’s current market value of almost $40 billion, including debt, a potential acquisition would rank among the year’s largest transactions.
9. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA)
Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) grew by 0.66 percent on Friday to finish at $22.77 apiece, as investors snapped up on shares following news that the company’s Duvakitug drug, developed with its French counterpart Sanofi, met its primary goals of treating ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Last year, the two firms announced a partnership to develop treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with hopes that the drug could achieve a blockbuster status and generate at least $1 billion in annual sales.
Citing technical indicators, analysts said that Teva’s current valuation is already on overbought levels after hitting a new 52-week high.
Year-to-date, Teva’s shares marked a whopping 113-percent jump from only $10.67 apiece on January 2.
8. Li Auto Inc. (LI)
Li Auto Inc. (LI) registered a 0.67-percent rise in its share prices on Friday to close at $25.49 apiece, albeit lower than the $25.82 at the open.
Investors placed buying positions on Li Auto following an announcement from its chief executive officer Li Xiang that the company is looking to reposition itself as an artificial intelligence company and produce humanoid robots eventually.
The company’s involvement in humanoid robots is “definitely 100 percent in probability,” said Li at an AI talk event.
Li Auto will soon launch a mobile app for its AI assistant Lixiang Tongxue, built on its self-developed foundational model Mind GPT, Li added.
The company was one of the best-performing Chinese EV companies in 2024, having grown its revenues last year to $17 billion from just over $40 million in 2019.
7. Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY)
Shares in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) rallied by 0.75 percent on Friday to close at $48.56 apiece as investor confidence was boosted by billionaire Warren Buffett’s recent hoard of the company’s stocks.
Earlier this month, Buffett through his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, gobbled up nearly 9 million shares for more than $400 million to push Berkshire’s stake to 28.2 percent in Occidental Petroleum.
At present, Occidental is one of Berkshire’s largest holdings, having owned another $8.3 billion in preferred shares, earning an 8-percent dividend rate.
In a recent letter to his shareholders, Buffett said: “Under Vicki Hollub’s leadership, Occidental is doing the right things for both the country and its shareholders… Vicki truly knows how to separate oil from rock (fracking), which is a unique ability that is valuable to her shareholders and to her country.” Hollub is the company’s president and chief executive officer (CEO).
6. Newell Brands Inc. (NWL)
Newell Brands (NWL) bucked an overall market downturn on Friday, clocking in another gain for a fifth consecutive day—up by 0.88 percent to end at $10.28 apiece. Year-to-date, the company’s stock price registered a 17.62-percent increase.
Despite the lack of a clear catalyst to perk up its share price, analysts believed investor confidence was buoyed by the company’s positive outlook, with its CEO Chris Peterson announcing that a “transformation is well underway” for the firm and that it would leverage AI to grow its business.
“The macroeconomic backdrop is still uncertain, we are confident that the actions we are taking and the capabilities we are building are laying a solid foundation for the company’s future,” he said.
During the third quarter of the year, the company was able to slash its net loss by $20 million to $198 million.
5. Globalstar Inc. (GSAT)
Shares of telecommunications company Globalstar (GSAT) rallied for a third day on Friday, ending the day up by 0.9 percent to $2.15 from $2.13 on Thursday.
Last week, its director James Monroe III also acquired a substantial amount of the company’s stock, purchasing a total of 1 million shares amounting to $1.94 million.
The company also recently held its Investor Day 2024 where it emphasized prospects by leveraging its core assets, expanding technological capabilities, and issuing robust financial targets.
In terms of financial performance, Globalstar (GSAT) reported a 25-percent increase in its revenues for the third quarter of the year, ending at $72 million.
The company also reiterated 2024 revenue guidance to be between $245-250 million with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 54 percent. For 2025, the company projects revenues to hit between $260-285 million and an Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 50 percent.
4. Geron Corp. (GERN)
Biotechnology company Geron Corp. (GERN) saw its share price increase by 1.52 percent on Friday to end at $3.35 apiece. Investors resorted to bargain hunting following a drop in its valuation on Thursday.
Albeit booking a lower net loss in the third quarter of the year, the company reported last month that net loss in the first nine months of the year was higher at $149.2 million as compared with the $132.2 million registered year-on-year.
Geron (GERN) recently announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended approval of its drug Rytelo for treating specific types of myelodysplastic syndromes. The European Commission will now review this recommendation, with a final decision on market authorization expected in the coming months.
3. Mobileye Global Inc. (MBLY)
Mobileye Global (MBLY), an Israeli autonomous driving technology company, reported a 2.88-percent increase in share price on the last trading day of the week, ending at $20.03 apiece.
According to analysts, investor sentiment was buoyed by announcements that the company is close to securing significant automotive deals.
RBC Capital Markets cited a presentation from the company’s investor event in Germany recently that it was nearing the completion of a partnership with a Japanese automaker. RBC identified Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda as potential candidates among the Japanese manufacturers.
It said that a deal with Honda or Toyota could be particularly impactful given their production volumes.
MBLY also appears to be in advanced talks with a European automaker for Surround ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems) and a US automaker, which is in the negotiation phase, according to RBC.
2. Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI)
Rigetti Computing (RGTI) continued to draw investor attention, ending this week’s trading up by 10.52 percent to close at $17.06 each.
Similar to other quantum computing stocks, Rigetti continued to rally amid the rapid expansion of the global quantum computing market, currently valued at $1.3 billion. The market is projected to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.7 percent, potentially reaching $5.3 billion by 2029.
According to analysts, Rigetti (RGTI) stands to largely benefit from the expected growth, as they provide developers with essential resources and recently debuted their innovative Novera quantum processor.
It is also worth noting that Google’s advancements in the Quantum space with its newest Willow chip contributed to the rally on shares of Quantum stocks, including Rigetti.
1. Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd. (KC)
Kingsoft Cloud (KC) registered the biggest gains on Friday, jumping by 23.19 percent to end the day at $12.56 each.
In the past month, the company also booked an impressive 79.24-percent increase, and a 251-percent in the past year.
Analysts pointed to the strong demand for AI and cloud-based solutions as having buoyed investor sentiment.
A leading player in China’s cloud computing market, Kingsoft (KC) gains from its integration with Xiaomi’s Internet of Things, cellphones, and electric cars as well as AI-powered improvements to WPS Office.
From 2025 to 2027, the strategic alliances were expected to bolster the company’s compound annual revenue growth rate (CAGR) by 13 percent.
Financial services company UBS also released a report highlighting the company’s robust third-quarter performance, surpassing market expectations. The development was said to have boosted investor confidence in the company’s revenue and profit recovery.
Amid the news, UBS upped its Kingsoft Cloud rating from “neutral” to “buy” and raised its target price from $4.2 to $12.5.
While we acknowledge the potential of KC 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 KC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.