The stock market bounced back on Friday, erasing the week’s losses following news that a feared government shutdown is unlikely to happen amid news that a funding plan is likely to be passed.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded the highest gain, adding 2.61 percent, followed by the S&P 500 with a 2.13-percent gain, and the Dow Jones with 1.65 percent.
Ten companies, predominantly under the AI industry, mirrored the broader market optimism, registering strong double-digit gains during the session. In this article, we have named the day’s best performers and detailed the reasons behind their performance.
To come up with the list, we only considered those with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.
A technical stock market chart. Photo by Energepic from Pexels
10. MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)
MicroStrategy Incorporated, doing business as Strategy, extended its winning streak for the fourth day on Friday, growing as much as 13.46 percent at intra-day trading before ending the day just up by 13 percent at $297.49 as investor sentiment was fueled by the recovery in Bitcoin prices.
As of this writing, Bitcoin prices were hovering around the $84,000 level over hopes that no government shutdown is happening as the US government would likely pass a government funding plan.
MSTR showed a strong performance throughout the week, bucking an overall market decline on all trading days.
On Monday, MSTR also announced that it would issue and sell shares of its 8-percent series A perpetual strike preferred stock, with a par value of $0.001 per share, for an aggregate amount of $21 billion.
According to the company, it intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and working capital.
9. IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)
Shares of IonQ jumped as high as 18.1 percent at intra-day trading on Friday before ending the day just up by 16.99 percent, marking a bounceback from Thursday’s drop that was dampened by criticisms from a short seller over its valuation, growth projections, and transparency.
In its report on Thursday, short seller Kerrisdale Capital criticized IONQ’s lofty growth projections and questioned the viability of its technology. It said that despite IONQ’s claims of significant technical and commercial milestones, the company was struggling with scalability.
“Although IONQ’s stock price has retreated from its all-time high, it is still trading at a value reaching 40 times its projected revenue for 2026,” the short seller said. “However, we believe IONQ is far from achieving new commercial success.”
In recent news, IONQ was able to raise another $360 million from an at-the-market (ATM) equity offering program, having sold over 16 million common shares.
Following the offer, IONQ said it was able to raise sufficient capital to meet its anticipated needs and recent market conditions.
8. Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO)
Shares of Oklo rallied as much as 16 percent at intra-day trading on Friday before finishing the day just up by 15.74 percent as investor sentiment was fueled by an overall optimistic market environment for AI stocks.
Despite growing economic uncertainties, outlook for the company remains optimistic amid an expected continuous demand for energy from data centers to support the booming Artificial Intelligence industry, as well as the continued backing from the US government to prop up energy demand in the country.
OKLO, a nuclear technology company, is at the forefront of fueling AI through partnering with data centers for energy supply.
Just recently, it sealed a deal with RPower to deploy a phased power model for data centers. The model combines immediate energy deployment using RPower natural gas generators with a transition path to clean, reliable energy from Oklo’s Aurora powerhouses, eliminating reliance on diesel generators and supporting scalable, sustainable operations.
Meanwhile, the US government announced in January that it would expand the supply of energy in the country to power the manufacturing industry.
7. Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ:PTON)
Peloton Interactive rallied by 16.6 percent on Friday before a slight pullback to end just up by 16.14 percent at $7.05 apiece as investors cheered the company’s upgraded rating from an investment firm.
In a report on Friday, Canaccord raised its outlook for PTON to “buy” from “hold” previously, citing the company’s progress in rebounding to profitability and its strong position in the fitness industry. It also gave the company a $10 price target, representing a 42-percent upside from its latest stock price.
According to Canaccord, PTON is well-positioned for future growth, supported by a loyal member base of 6 million.
For the full year 2025, Canaccord expects PTON to achieve between $300 million and $350 million in adjusted EBITDA, a significant jump from the $3.5 million in the full year 2024.
Additionally, it sees revenues to inflect next year with new initiatives to be supported by subscriber growth by 2027.
6. SoundHound AI Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN)
SoundHound AI saw its share prices grow as high as 16.27 percent on Friday before slight selling positions pulled the company to end the day just up by 16.05 percent at $10.34 apiece.
Investors on Friday bought up shares following news that it would participate in the 2025 NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference (GTC), from March 17-21 in San Jose, California, where it will showcase cutting-edge voice AI innovations that are transforming the automotive industry and redefining in-car experiences.
In a statement, SOUN CEO and co-founder Keyvan Mohajer said that the upcoming event will be the perfect stage for SOUN to showcase the future of voice AI.
“Our collaboration with NVIDIA and our voice commerce technology are set to redefine the in-vehicle experience. We look forward to demonstrating how our AI solutions unlock new possibilities for automakers, brands, and consumers alike,” he added.
5. DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU)
Electronic document management specialist DocuSign grew its share prices by as much as 18.7 percent at intra-day trading on Friday before ending the day just up by 14.81 percent at $85.76 apiece as investors cheered its impressive earnings performance during the last quarter and fiscal year.
In its latest earnings report, DOCU said net income in the last quarter ending January 31, 2025, expanded by 206 percent to $83.491 million from $27.241 million in the same period a year earlier, as revenues grew 8.99 percent to $776 million from $712 million.
Net income for the full year also soared by 1,361 percent to $1.067 billion from only $73.98 million a year earlier, while revenues rose by 7.78 percent to $2.976 billion from $2.761 billion.
Looking ahead, DOCU expects revenues in the next quarter to end between $745 million and $749 million and between $3.129 billion and $3.141 billion on a full-year basis.
4. Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ:SMTC)
Semtech saw its share prices rally as high as 21.6 percent at intra-day trading before a slight pullback occurred to end the day just up by 21.06 percent at $39.6 apiece, as investors reacted positively to its impressive earnings performance in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
In its latest earnings release, SMTC said it swung to a net income attributable to shareholders of $39.1 million from a $642.4-million net loss in the same period a year earlier, as net sales grew by 30 percent to $251 million from $192.9 million year-on-year.
Meanwhile, SMTC narrowed its net loss by 85 percent to $161.9 million last year from $1.09 billion in full-year 2024, as net sales grew 4.6 percent to $909.3 million from $868.8 million.
“Fiscal year 2025 represented a year of positive inflection on many fronts, with sequential improvement for each quarter reported in net sales, gross margin, operating margin, and earnings per share,” said Hong Hou, Semtech’s president and chief executive officer. “In the new fiscal year, we are intently focusing on three core priorities to position Semtech for future success: portfolio optimization and simplification, strategic investment in research and development, and driving margin expansion, all which we believe will deliver greater value to our shareholders.”
3. Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)
Rigetti Computing soared by 29 percent on Friday before finishing the day just up by 28.23 percent at $11.22 apiece as investor funds flocked to AI stocks to minimize risks from the ongoing market uncertainties.
RGTI traded higher in line with its quantum computing peers, namely D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) and IONQ, which rose as high as 41 percent and 13 percent, respectively, at intraday trading.
Just recently, RGTI secured a $35 million investment from Quanta Computer and partnered with the company for the development of quantum computing for $100 million in the next five years.
Under the transaction, Quanta purchased RGTI shares at $11.59 apiece for a total of $35 million. Following the investment, the two parties would jointly invest $100 million over the next five years for the development of quantum computers.
Meanwhile, RGTI is expected to release a 36-qubit system based on four 9-qubit chips by mid-2025.
By the end of the year, it expects to release a system with over 100 qubits with a targeted 2x reduction in error rates from the current level.
2. Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK)
Shares of Rubrik Inc. surged by as high as 28.8 percent at intra-day trading before ending the day just up by 27.79 percent at $70.64 each as investors cheered its strong revenue performance during the last quarter and full year of 2024.
In its latest earnings release, RBRK said revenues for the fourth quarter increased by 47 percent to $258 million from $175 million year-on-year, while revenues for the full year surged by 41 percent to $886 million from $628 million.
Despite the strong revenue figures, the company remained at a higher net loss, by 17.8 percent in the quarter at $114.9 million versus $97.5 million year-on-year, and by 225 percent at $1.154 billion from $354 million in 2023.
Looking ahead, RBRK expects to book revenues between $259 million and $261 million in the first quarter of the year and revenues of $1.145 billion and $1.161 billion in the full-year period.
1. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum skyrocketed by 47.6 percent on Friday before ending the day just up by 46.89 percent at $10.15 apiece as investors cheered the company’s strong growth in bookings, offsetting disappointing revenues and net income performances.
In its latest earnings release, QBTS said bookings expanded by 502 percent to $18.3 million in the fourth quarter from only $3 million in the same period a year earlier, while bookings in the full year period registered a 128-percent jump at $23.9 million from $10.5 million year-on-year.
Meanwhile, net loss in full year 2024 increased by 74 percent to $143.9 million from $82.7 million year-on-year, while net loss for the fourth quarter surged by 438 percent to $86.1 million from $16 million year-on-year, primarily due to a non-cash, non-operating charge related to the remeasurement of its warrant liability that materially increased as a result of the significant price appreciation of its warrants.
While we acknowledge the potential of QBTS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as QBTS but 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.
