Pessimistic sentiment persisted on the stock market on Thursday as investors moved to sell off shares in an effort to minimize risks from uncertainties brought about by President Donald Trump’s continued tariff threats and policy shifts.
The Dow Jones plunged 1.01 percent, the S&P 500 declined 0.43 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.47 percent.
Amidst the overall market downturn, 10 companies stood out, clocking in double-digit gains during the trading session, thanks to a flurry of positive catalysts including strong corporate earnings results.
To come up with Thursday’s top performers, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.
Stock market charts. Photo by Kaboompics.com on Pexels
10. Bausch Health Companies Inc (NYSE:BHC)
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) saw its share prices rise by 10 percent on Thursday, a third consecutive day, to close at $7.18 apiece as investors cheered news of its strong earnings performance last year coupled with a bullish outlook this year.
In a statement, BHC said it achieved a 5.9-percent rise in net income attributable to the company of $430 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 from the $406 million registered in the same period in 2023, as revenue grew 6 percent to $2.559 billion from $2.408 billion year-on-year.
For the full year 2024, BHC narrowed its net losses by 92 percent to $46 million from $592 million in 2023, as revenues increased 9 percent to $9.625 billion from $8.757 billion year-on-year.
For this year, BHC expects revenues to settle anywhere between $9.9 billion to $10.15 billion—an outlook that was more bullish than the average analyst estimate of $9.95 billion.
9. Clearwater Analytics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CWAN)
Clearwater Analytics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CWAN) grew its share prices by 10.72 percent on Thursday to finish at $29.94 each as investors bought up shares following a strong earnings performance in 2024.
In a statement, CWAN said it swung to a net income attributable to the company of $419 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, reversing a net loss of $4.19 million in the same period last year, as revenues increased by 27 percent to $126 million from $99 million in the same comparable period.
Meanwhile, net income stood at $424 million for the full year, reversing a net loss of $21.6 million in 2023.
CWAN said the strong net earnings performance can be attributed to the release of its Deferred Tax Asset Valuation Allowance in the fourth quarter which resulted in a one-time income tax benefit in our income statement of $472 million.
Revenue, on the other hand, totaled $126.5 million, an increase of 27.7 percent from $99 million year-on-year, while revenue for the full year rose 22 percent to $451 million from $368 million year-on-year.
8. VNET Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET)
Chinese firm VNET Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET) rallied for a third straight day on Thursday, adding 12.58 percent to close at $14.68 apiece as investors continued to place bets in the company on expectations that it would earn further boost from the rapid AI advancements in China.
Since the emergence of DeepSeek, investors have been gambling on Chinese technology stocks, including VNET—one of the leading data center operators in China—on expectations that any advancements would bolster the growth of companies supporting AI.
Since the start of the month, or just a few days after DeepSeek announced it was able to train its model for just a fraction of the value spent to train ChatGPT, VNET already saw its share price jump by a whopping 103 percent.
Last year, the company also signaled plans to invest heavily in AI, even earmarking a higher capital for this year to support growth.
7. GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS)
GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS) extended its rally for a 10th consecutive day on Thursday, adding another 12.76 percent to its valuation to finish at $48.50 apiece, as funds continued to flock to Chinese companies supporting AI in China, including GDS.
Over the past 10 trading days alone, the company’s stock price has already registered a whopping 87-percent jump.
GDS, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China and Southeast Asia, has been earning a boost from the rapid advancements in AI, particularly DeepSeek, especially with the latter now being widely adopted by various businesses—from chatbots, smart vehicles, government agencies, and schools, among others.
Earlier this month, City analyst Louis Tsang raised GDS’ price target to $51.2 from $25.1 previously, while maintaining a “buy” rating. The rating was based on optimism toward growing AI data center-related spending from China cloud service providers.
6. Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) surged by 12.95 percent on Thursday to end at $69.06 apiece as investors cheered news of improved earnings performance and continued revenue growth expectations this year despite the threats of tariffs.
In a statement, HAS said it was able to slash its net losses attributable to the company for the fourth quarter by 97 percent to $34.3 million from $1.06 billion in the same period last year, despite revenues dropping by 14.5 percent to $1.1 billion from $1.288 billion.
It also swung to a net income of $385.6 million in full-year 2024 from a $1.49-billion net loss in 2023, despite revenues declining by 17 percent to $4.13 billion from $5 billion year-on-year.
For this year, HAS CEO Chris Cocks said the company would bring to the market “a stellar lineup” of toys and games to fans, expanding the reach of its Intellectual Property through partnerships while continuing to focus on operational rigor and anticipating the future of play.
5. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) grew its share prices by 13 percent on Thursday to close at $7.39 apiece, as investors bought up on news of advancements in the quantum computing industry.
On Wednesday, technology giant Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ:MSFT) introduced Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that is expected to support quantum computers’ capability of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, and not decades.
The optimism dribbled into quantum computing stocks, including QBTS.
The news followed QBTS’ announcement on Wednesday that it developed, along with Staque Solutions, a commercial hybrid-quantum application that would help accelerate computing solutions for agricultural decision-makers. It was expected to enhance agri robotics, farming sustainability, planning for ever-changing conditions, and most importantly, perk up crop production.
4. DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE:DBRG)
DigitalBridge, Inc. (NYSE:DBRG) surged by 13.86 percent on Thursday to finish at $12.24 apiece as investor sentiment was fueled by the company’s optimistic outlook for 2025, offsetting disappointing earnings performance last year.
In its latest earnings call, DBRG said it plans to grow its fee-earning equity under management (FEEUM), the amount of money it manages, to $40 billion this year from $36 billion last year, supported by continued fund-raising activities and capital deployment. The company also plans to finalize its third flagship fund and second credit strategy and introduce two new investment products.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, DBRG swung to a net loss of $19.7 million from a $100-million net income in the same period in 2023, as revenues fell by 81 percent to $66 million from $350 million.
3. FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI)
FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) grew its share prices for the fourth consecutive day, adding 14.37 percent to close at $143.82 apiece, as investors cheered news of the company getting cleared from allegations from a short-seller claiming it reported misleading financials.
According to FTAI’s audit committee, with support from independent legal and forensic accounting advisors, Muddy Waters’ allegations were “without merit.”
“The Audit Committee and full Board continue to take seriously our responsibility to FTAI shareholders to maintain high standards of corporate governance and internal compliance and financial reporting controls, as well as transparent and timely disclosure,” said FTAI Audit Committee chairman Paul Goodwin.
FTAI said it expects to file its annual report on schedule, alleviating fears that the report might be delayed.
2. Tuya Inc. (NYSE:TUYA)
Shares of Tuya Inc. (NYSE:TUYA) grew for a third straight day on Thursday, adding 26.8 percent to close at $3.88 apiece as investors gobbled up shares in the company following announcements that it kicked off the integration of its Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) platform with DeepSeek.
“By leveraging advanced technologies like natural language processing (NLP) and multimodal scene perception, TUYA is driving the transformation of smart devices into “active intelligence,” paving the way for AI applications to reach their full potential,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
In particular, TUYA’s integration with DeepSeek would have a significant impact on the pet care industry through the synergy between its AIoT platform and DeepSeek’s multimodal AI capabilities.
“These synergies will translate into tangible pet care innovations, and further accelerate the adoption of AI-driven solutions across the pet industry,” it said.
1. Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U)
Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U) soared by 30.41 percent on Thursday to end at $28 apiece as investors cheered its improved earnings performance last year.
In a statement, U said its net loss attributable to the company for the fourth quarter narrowed by 51 percent to $122.7 million from $252.75 million, despite revenues declining by 25 percent to $457 million from $609 million year-on-year.
Net loss for the full year also shrunk by 19 percent to $664 million from $822 million in 2023, while revenues dropped by 17 percent to $1.813 billion from $2.187 billion in the same comparable period.
For the first quarter of the year, U expects revenues to settle between $405 million to $415 million.
While we acknowledge the potential of U 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 U 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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