Pulse of the Market: Wednesday’s 10 Top Performers

1. StoneCo. Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

StoneCo jumped by 15.53 percent on Wednesday to end at $11.38 each as investors cheered the company’s impressive earnings performance last year.

In its latest earnings release, the Brazilian firm said net income in the fourth quarter of the year rose by 18.1 percent to R$665.6 million from R$563.8 million in the same period a year earlier, as revenues rose 11.1 percent to R$3.609 billion from R$3.248 billion.

Meanwhile, net income for the full year 2024 jumped by 41.3 percent to R$2.2 billion from R$1.557 billion as revenues increased by 10 percent to R$13.257 billion from R$12.055 billion.

Despite the impressive performance, STNE posted a cautious outlook for this year.

“We should prepare for a tough 2025, as projected higher long-term interest rates are expected to impact economic activity. Given interest rate volatility, inflation, and emerging opportunities, prudent capital structure management is paramount,” said STNE CEO Pedro Zinner.

While we acknowledge the potential of STNE 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 STNE but 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 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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