The stock market ended the week stronger with all its major indices closing higher as investors repositioned portfolios ahead of more corporate earnings next week while navigating an evolving global trade environment.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged by 1.26 percent, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones eked out marginal gains of 0.74 percent and 0.05 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, 10 companies mirrored the broader market sentiment, ending the trading week with modest gains. In this article, we have listed the 10 top-performing stocks and detailed the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we considered only the companies with a $2-billion market capitalization and $5-million trading volume.
A trader cheers his market gains. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
10. SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)
SoFi Technologies rallied for a fourth consecutive day on Friday, adding 4.63 percent to close at $12.88 apiece after earning an upgraded rating from an investment company.
In a market note, Citizens JMP gave SOFI an Outperform rating and a price target of $17, marking a 32-percent upside from its latest closing price.
According to Citizens JMP, its outlook was based on the belief that SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) has the potential for robust growth, improving profitability, and undervaluation relative to its future earnings potential.
“Having achieved GAAP profitability in 2024, SoFi is at an inflection point, with substantial earnings potential that we believe the market is currently undervaluing, offering a compelling long-term investment opportunity,” the investment firm said.
SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) is a financial services technology firm that offers a wide range of products and services, including credit cards, loans, and insurance, among others.
9. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Palantir Technologies extended its winning streak for a fourth straight day on Friday, adding 4.64 percent to close at $112.78 apiece as investors continued to snap up shares following its recently inked partnership with Google to integrate its cloud into the former’s FedStart initiative.
In a statement earlier in the week, Leigh Palmer, vice president for technology, delivery, and operations at Google’s public sector, said that Google’s partnership with PLTR aims to enhance the delivery of services to US government agencies while upholding the highest security and compliance standards.
Anthropic, Google’s generative artificial intelligence startup, was said to be the first software company to use the new capability. Its Claude for Enterprise application will be available to federal government agencies through Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) FedStart on Google Cloud.
“By partnering with industry leaders to bring cutting-edge technologies to the US government, Google can accelerate public sector mission impact and outcomes,” Palmer said.
8. Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR)
Caesars Entertainment rose for a second day on Friday, eking out a 4.67-percent gain to close at $28.44 apiece following the launch of a new NBA-inspired slot game across its iGaming platforms.
Called NBA Triple Double Power Combo, the slot game is now live for the 2025 NBA Playoffs exclusively across Caesars Palace Online Casino, Horseshoe Online Casino, and Caesars Sportsbook & Casino in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ontario, Canada. The slot game was created in collaboration with Games Global.
“With the NBA Playoffs in full swing, NBA Triple Double Power Combo is the ultimate destination for basketball enthusiasts on our online gaming platforms,” said Matt Sunderland, Senior Vice President and Chief iGaming Officer at Caesars Digital.
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) is one of the leading casino-entertainment companies in the US and also one of the most diversified casino-entertainment providers globally.
7. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX)
Cemex rose for a fourth straight day on Friday, adding 4.04 percent to close at $5.92 apiece as investors repositioned portfolios ahead of the release of its first quarter earnings performance while snapping up shares after earning a bullish rating from an investment firm.
Based on its website, CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) is scheduled to release the results of its earnings performance for the first quarter of the year on Monday, April 28, at 11 AM New York time. Apart from the operational and financial highlights, investors will be closely watching out for its outlook for the near-term period, considering the ongoing trade tensions globally.
In other news, Barclays on Monday reaffirmed its Buy rating and $8 price target for CX, which represented a 35-percent upside from its latest closing price.
Also last week, CX announced that Cemex Ventures, its corporate venture capital and open innovation unit, executed an investment agreement with OPTIMITIVE, a Spain-based Artificial Intelligence company.
Founded in 2008, OPTIMITIVE has developed proprietary artificial intelligence software to enhance efficiency across heavy industries. It offers advanced solutions for process improvement, maintenance, and services, with a strong focus on the cement industry over the last years.
6. Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT)
Reddit Inc. grew its share prices for a fourth consecutive day, adding 5.21 percent to close at $118.10 apiece as investors cheered news that it expanded its “Reddit Answers” interface into eight countries while also repositioning portfolios ahead of the release of its first quarter earnings performance next week.
According to the company, Reddit Answers is now available in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
Reddit Answers is the company’s Artificial Intelligence-powered interface that lets users ask questions and receive answers in a conversational manner. The new platform is accessible on its website, on Android, and on iOS.
Unlike generic AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini, Reddit Answers leverages data within the Reddit site.
Reddit Answers debuted in the US in December 2024 in a bid to improve the search experience by making it faster, smarter, and more relevant. So far, the interface platform only supports the English language.
Meanwhile, Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) is scheduled to release the results of its operational and financial highlights after market close on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
5. Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR)
Strategy Inc., formerly MicroStrategy, extended its winning streak for a seventh straight day on Friday, jumping 5.24 percent to close at $368.71 apiece as investors continued to snap up shares ahead of its first quarter earnings results next week.
According to the company, it is scheduled to announce its financial and operational highlights for the January-March period on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at 5 PM ET.
Investors will closely watch out for the company’s outlook for the second quarter and full year 2025.
Friday’s rally in MSTR shares was in line with higher Bitcoin prices, which, as of this writing, were up by 1.02 percent at $94,905.97 apiece.
Further contributing to the sentiment were bullish comments from two analysts.
Matt Hougan, a cryptocurrency forecaster, said he expects Bitcoin to reach the $200,000 mark this year, while renowned Street analyst Tom Lee stated that MSTR showed “signs of being washed out” towards the beginning of April.
The comments bode well for MSTR, which as of April 21 reportedly owned 538,220 Bitcoins.
4. Lufax Holding Ltd. (NYSE:LU)
Lufax Holding rose for a fifth consecutive day on Friday, adding 5.76 percent to end at $3.12 apiece as investors continued to cheer the company’s leadership reshuffling amid an ongoing investigation into certain transactions between 2022 and 2024.
In a regulatory filing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, LU announced the immediate resignation of Yong Suk Cho as the company’s board chairman. He will be replaced by Dicky Peter Yip, who previously served as independent non-executive director for the company.
Cho, however, will continue to serve as LU’s chief executive officer and executive director.
Meanwhile, Yip, 78, has served as an independent non-executive director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited since September 2004. He also joined HSBC in 1965 and subsequently served as the chief executive of the China business from January 2003 to May 2005, a general manager of HSBC from April 2005 to June 2012, and an executive vice president of Bank of Communications Co., Ltd., among others.
3. Penn Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN)
PENN Entertainment grew its share prices by 6.6 percent to end at $16.15 apiece following an announcement that it would invest up to $200 million to transition its Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs riverboat in Iowa into a new land-based facility.
Upon completion, the upcoming property will be renamed Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs.
The new project will sit on a 58,000-square-foot (sq ft) land, which will form part of the larger 125,000-sq ft development.
According to Penn Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN), the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved the project on Thursday alongside its 15-year partnership extension with the Iowa West Racing Association, a nonprofit Qualified Sponsoring Organization (QSO) required for gaming operations in the state.
“We are pleased to add another landside relocation to our pipeline of development projects,” said Todd George, Executive Vice President of Operations for PENN. “This project will enhance the quality and efficiency of our Council Bluffs location and significantly improve the property’s competitive positioning in the greater Omaha market.”
2. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Tesla Inc. rallied for a fourth straight day on Friday, adding 9.80 percent to close at $284.95 apiece as investors cheered twin news that billionaire Elon Musk will devote more time to the company while also taking into account the US government’s relaxation of rules on self-driving vehicles.
Speaking at a conference call earlier this week, Musk said that he will be “allocating far more of … time to Tesla” beginning next month.
The announcement came after the company reported a plunge in earnings during the first quarter of the year. In its latest earnings release, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) said net income attributable to shareholders nosedived by 71 percent to $409 million from $1.39 billion in the same period a year earlier. Total revenues declined by 9 percent to $19.3 billion from $21.3 billion year-on-year.
Musk was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As the agency’s head, Musk was tasked to initiate and review federal spending in a bid to eliminate inefficiencies and reduce spending.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled a new framework for the department, emphasizing the need to cut red tape and move toward a single national standard for self-driving vehicles.
“This Administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Duffy said.
The move spelled good news for TSLA, which has setits sights on the development of robotaxis.
1. Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ)
Core Scientific jumped by 10.36 percent on Friday, a fourth straight day, as investors repositioned portfolios ahead of the release of its first quarter earnings performance on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
CORZ, a digital infrastructure company for high-performance computing and Bitcoin mining, reported a higher number of self-mined Bitcoins last month, at 247 versus 215 in February.
In recent news, Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) announced plans to expand its existing footprint in Dalton, Georgia, with an additional 170 acres of land set for development.
The company said it was looking to build an AI data center called Dalton 4 in the area, close to its existing facilities, which it expects to open by July 2026.
According to reports, another facility is expected to be built in the future.
While we acknowledge the potential of CORZ 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 time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CORZ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.
