Wall Street’s main indices kicked off the trading week in the green territory, albeit with minimal gains, as investors stayed on the sidelines while continuing to digest President Donald Trump’s temporary tax reprieve on technology companies.
The S&P 500 recorded the highest gain, up 0.79 percent, while the Dow Jones came second at 0.78 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was also up by 0.64 percent.
Meanwhile, 10 companies, predominantly in the technology sector, bucked a broader market optimism, booking modest declines during the session. In this article, let us explore Monday’s 10 worst performers and the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we only considered the stocks with $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million trading volume.
Stock market reports printed on a sheet of paper. Photo by RDNE Stock Project on Pexels
10. C3.ai Inc. (NYSE:AI)
C3.ai saw its share prices drop by 2.57 percent on Monday to close at $20.06 apiece as investors sold off positions after an investment firm reduced its price target for the company by 28 percent.
On Monday, DA Davidson cut its price target for C3.ai to $18 from $25 previously. The new price target was a low blow for the company, having been slashed to a price lower than its Monday closing figure.
According to DA Davidson, the downgrade was part of a broader reassessment of the software industry and reflected expected economic challenges.
The analyst underscored that the US may experience one or two quarters of negative GDP growth that is likely to impact both consumer spending and corporate investment.
C3.ai is an enterprise artificial intelligence software applications company providing more than 130 turnkey AI applications for businesses in manufacturing, financial services, government, utilities, oil and gas, chemicals, agribusiness, defense, and intelligence, among others.
9. Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)
Aurora Innovation dropped for a third straight day on Monday, shedding 2.58 percent to finish at $6.03 apiece as investors repositioned portfolios ahead of the expected launch of its driverless trucks in Texas this month.
Further dampening the sentiment was an investment firm’s rating downgrade for the company last week.
On Thursday, Goldman Sachs gave AUR a price target of $6, which was 0.5 percent lower than the latter’s closing price on Monday.
Goldman Sachs also assigned a Neutral rating for the stock, albeit a slight improvement from the Sell rating previously.
According to the investment firm, the new rating reflected a shift in market focus from the ramp-up and economics of AV trucking to the feasibility of the technology itself, which it believed was achievable.
Meanwhile, AUR recently received an “outperform” rating and a price target of $15 from Oppenheimer. The rating was based on AUR’s methodical and sustainable progress in the industry which it will face limited competition, further supported by its expected launch of driverless trucks this year.
8. Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)
Rigetti Computing dropped its share prices by 2.64 percent on Monday to end at $8.86 apiece as investors sold off positions in quantum computing companies following China’s move to ban the exports of rare earth minerals.
The move was a devastating blow to various industries given the rare earth minerals critical role in the production of semiconductors, among others. Semiconductors, on the other hand, are a vital component in the creation of quantum computers.
Further dampening sentiment was news of China setting its sights on quantum computing advancements.
Earlier last week, Chinese researchers in Hefei announced a huge breakthrough by using a real quantum computer, called Origin Wukong, to improve a huge artificial intelligence model with 1 billion parameters.
The project was said to be the first in the world that had done such with a real quantum machine.
Origin Wukong is a powerful computer with 72 qubits and is used to improve AI performance by 8.4 percent.
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.
7. IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)
IonQ saw its share prices decline by 2.84 percent on Monday to finish at $25.35 apiece as investor sentiment was weighed down by the potential impact on the company of China’s move to ban rare earth mineral exports.
Rare earth minerals are crucial in the production of semiconductors which are vital for quantum computing stocks like IONQ.
Investors also appeared to have discounted news of IONQ’s newly clinched deal with Japan-based G-QuAT to collaborate on the advancement of quantum computing technologies in the Asian country.
“Our expanded alliance … marks an important step in IONQ’s global expansion and deepens our engagement with the Japanese quantum market,” said IONQ President and CEO Niccolo de Masi in a news release. “We look forward to our further collaboration with G-QuAT to explore new quantum computing applications that can deliver transformative outcomes across industries.”
According to the release, Japan is making substantial progress toward its quantum computing goals with over $1.8 billion in public funding already announced and multiple government-sponsored research labs commissioned as of 2024.
6. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum dropped its share prices by 3.17 percent on Monday to finish at $7.02 apiece as investors sold off positions to mitigate the risks of China’s move to ban rare earth mineral exports on the company.
Rare earth minerals are crucial in the production of semiconductors which are vital for quantum computing stocks like QBTS. Following the news, QBTS traded lower alongside its counterparts, namely IONQ and RGTI.
In other news, sentiment was further dampened by news of China setting its sights on quantum computing advancements.
Earlier last week, Chinese researchers in Hefei announced a huge breakthrough by using a real quantum computer, called Origin Wukong, to improve a huge artificial intelligence model with 1 billion parameters.
The project was said to be the first in the world that had done such with a real quantum machine.
Origin Wukong is a powerful computer with 72 qubits and is used to improve AI performance by 8.4 percent.
5. Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE:GFI)
Gold Fields Ltd. snapped a three-day winning streak on Monday, dropping by 3.54 percent to end at $23.69 each as investors sold off positions following news that it would cease operations at its Damang mining site in Ghana after the government rejected its lease extension request.
While GFI already stopped mining in Damang since 2023, it continued to process stockpiles at the site. On Monday, it confirmed that it was instructed by authorities to vacate the lease area by April 18.
According to GFI, it was “preparing to safely and responsibly cease operations and ensure the safety and security of our people and high-risk operations.”
Damang was GFI’s smaller gold mining site after Tarkwa, its largest open-pit site.
Damang alone produced 135,000 ounces of gold last year, accounting for around 6 percent of the group’s total 2.15 million ounces produced.
4. Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ:NBIS)
Nebius Group dropped its share prices by 3.63 percent on Monday to end at $20.73 apiece as investors sold off positions after an investment firm significantly reduced its price target for the company by 40 percent.
On Monday, DA Davidson reduced its price target for NBIS to $30 from $50 previously, while maintaining a Buy rating for the stock.
The new price target, however, represented a 44.7-percent upside from NBIS’ closing price on Monday.
According to DA Davidson, the adjustment was part of the broader coverage of the software group, saying that the US may experience one or two quarters of negative GDP growth that is likely to impact both consumer spending and corporate investment.
NBIS is a European company building one of the largest commercially available AI infrastructure businesses. Its core business is an AI-centric cloud platform built to support intensive AI workloads.
3. Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RXRX)
Recursion Pharmaceuticals dropped its share prices by 4.34 percent on Monday to close at $5.51 apiece as investors resorted to profit-taking following Friday’s surge while staying on the sidelines amid a muted wider market.
Last week, RXRX soared by 27.72 percent following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to replace the use of animals in testing drugs with Artificial Intelligence.
RXRX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that uses AI in its discovery and development processes.
According to the FDA, the initiative was designed to replace animal testing with “more effective human-relevant methods” in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs.
The move was not only expected to improve drug safety and expedite the evaluation process, but it could also result in lower research and development costs, thereby reducing drug prices for the end consumers.
According to the FDA, it will begin to encourage the inclusion of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) data in investigational new drug applications.
2. AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP)
AppLovin Corp. extended its losing streak for a third straight day on Monday, shedding 5.55 percent to finish at $236.07 each amid the looming deadline to lead plaintiff for a class action lawsuit against the company.
On Monday, several shareholder law firms reminded APP shareholders who lost money between May 10, 2023, and February 25, 2025, about the looming deadline to lead as plaintiff for the lawsuit alleging the company of reporting dishonest advertising practices.
The complaint alleged that throughout the class period, APP provided materially false and misleading statements about its business, operations, and prospects concerning financial growth and stability.
The complaint was based on a short seller report on February 26 claiming that APP was reverse engineering and exploiting advertising data from Meta Platforms.
The report further alleged that APP was utilizing manipulative practices to artificially inflate their own ad click-through and app download rates, such as by having ads click on themselves or utilizing design gimmicks to trigger forced shadow downloads, erroneously inflating installation numbers and, in turn, its profit figures.
APP, however, reassured investors of best practices, saying that it hired a law firm to investigate the allegations.
1. Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U)
Unity Software tumbled by 5.56 percent on Monday to finish at $18.16 each as investors continued to sell off positions following a rating downgrade from an investment firm.
Last week, UBS cut its price target for Unity to $22 from $30 previously, while maintaining a Neutral stand on the stock. The new price, however, still represented a 21-percent upside from its closing price on Monday.
According to UBS, its adjusted rating was based on the minimal albeit positive feedback for the company’s new algorithm, Vector, placing Unity in a “show me” position.
Unity launched the AI-powered platform Vector as it eyes to keep pace with AppLovin Corp.
“Vector is designed to leverage data from across the Unity ecosystem, integrating self-learning artificial intelligence models that will provide deeper insights, optimize performance and deliver better results for customers,” said Unity President and CEO Matt Bromberg in the company’s last earnings call.
“Vector enhances targeting precision and increases audience scale through a sharper analysis of richer data sets, and it’s also able to adapt in real-time, helping customers navigate an increasingly competitive mobile marketing landscape,” he added.
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