The stock market ended in the red territory anew on Thursday following a fresh wave of uncertainties and reports of a looming government shutdown that rattled investors.
The Dow Jones dropped by 1.30 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined by 1.39 percent and 1.96 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, investors took refuge in 10 companies, predominantly mining firms, to mitigate the risks from the macroeconomic threats.
In this article, we have listed the 10 strongest stocks and detailed the reasons behind their performance.
To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with at least $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.
A man in long sleeves looking at stock market data. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
10. Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE:HL)
Hecla Mining extended its winning streak for the third consecutive day on Thursday, adding 3.59 percent to close at $5.77 apiece as the company continues to benefit from the favorable conditions for precious metals amid the ongoing trade tensions globally.
HL traded in line with higher gold prices, which, as of Thursday, was already nearing the $3,000 mark, ending at $2,982.87 per troy ounce.
The rally also came despite a downgrade in its price target to $7 from $8 by the Royal Bank of Canada. The bank, however, assigned the company an “outperform” rating.
Last year, HL posted an impressive earnings performance for both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024. Net income attributable to shareholders in the quarter stood at $11.79 million, a reversal from the $43 million net loss in the same period a year earlier.
It also swung to a net income of $35 million from a net loss of $84.77 million in the same period a year ago.
9. Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD)
Vodafone grew its share prices by 3.17 percent on Thursday to end at $9.50 apiece as investors cheered news of its recent partnership with Nokia to expand its IP backhaul network.
In a statement, Nokia said it signed a three-year agreement with VOD to deploy its cutting edge IP/MLS solutions across multiple telecommunications circles in India.
As part of the partnership, Nokia will supply its latest portfolio of IP/MPLS products to improve network scalability, connectivity, and efficiency.
Meanwhile, VOD aims to densify its network with a significant deployment of IP routers and replace its legacy networks, which will then enable lower operational costs, faster deployment, and seamless scalability for future technologies, ensuring a more efficient and cost-effective network infrastructure.
8. The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)
The AES Corp. rose by 3.80 percent on Thursday to end at $12.28 apiece as investor confidence continued, thanks to bullish analyst outlooks for the company.
Earlier, Mad Money host Jim Cramer suggested in his show that it was already time to pick up shares in AES.
“What is that, 5 percent yield? It’s down way too low. I think it’s time to pick up that utility,” he said.
Last week, Bank of America also upgraded AES’ rating to “neutral” from “underperform” previously, while raising its price target to $13 from $11.
The bank said AES’ revised strategy, which involves capital spending cuts and a more achievable renewables growth target, improves its execution visibility. However, Bank of America underscored risks for AES regarding asset sales and funding constraints.
Earlier, AES announced that it would expand its renewable energy capacity by bringing more than 3 GW of renewable energy online in 2025.
7. Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE:CDE)
Coeur Mining grew its share prices for a third consecutive day, adding 4.03 percent to finish at $5.94 each, as investors shifted to safer stocks to mitigate risks from the ongoing trade war.
CDE traded higher in line with its peers and rising gold prices, which, as of Thursday, was already nearing the $3,000 mark, ending at $2,982.87 per troy ounce.
Meanwhile, CDE also earned a “buy” rating from TD Securities and a price target of $7, representing a 17.8-percent upside from its last closing price.
Last year, CDE narrowed its net loss by 43.4 percent to $58.9 million from the $103.6 million registered in 2023, as revenues rose 28 percent to $1.05 billion year-on-year.
Just recently, CDE successfully acquired SilverCrest Metals, with the latter’s shareholders receiving 1.6022 CDE common shares for each SilverCrest common share. CDE issued more than 239 million shares in the transaction.
6. Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM)
Newmont Corp. grew its share prices by 4.63 percent on Thursday—a third day—to end at $45.65 apiece as the stock benefitted from the continued investor interest in mining companies.
NEM, a US-based miner of gold and other precious metals, traded higher in line with the rising gold prices on Thursday, which was nearing the $3,000 mark.
The rally shunned news of a new class action lawsuit against the company over claims of securities fraud.
According to the complaint, NEM published a press release in October last year announcing disappointing EBITDA third quarter 2024 highlights, in addition to decreases in production and increases in operating costs. Additionally, NEM revealed that mining operations at its two Tier 1 assets would see lower production than originally guided with expectations of higher costs at these facilities.
Following the news, NEM’s stock price fell from a closing market price of $57.74 per share on October 23, 2024, to $49.25 per share on October 24, 2024.
5. Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR)
Dollar Tree recovered from a five-day losing streak on Thursday, jumping 6.59 percent to close at $66 each as investors resorted to bargain-hunting to take advantage of cheap valuations.
In addition, investors repositioned portfolios ahead of the company’s release of its fourth quarter results on March 26, where they would be looking out for the company’s outlook for 2025 as well as plans from its incoming chief executive officer.
Wall Street analysts expect DLTR to post revenues of $8.27 billion, alongside adjusted earnings per share of $2.21 and same-store growth of 1.5 percent.
DLTR is a leading discount store operator based in Virginia, which owns Dollar Tree and Family Dollar brands. It ranked 137 on the Fortune 50 list and has already served North America for more than 63 years.
As of this writing, DLTR operates more than 16,000 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces.
4. Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG)
Dollar General rose by 6.81 percent on Thursday to end at $79.95 each as investors digested the company’s earnings performance for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024.
In its latest earnings release, DG announced mixed results, with net income coming in 32 percent lower at $1.125 billion from $1.661 billion in 2023, while net sales inched up by 4.9 percent to $40.6 billion from $38.69 billion year-on-year.
Looking ahead, DG expects net sales to grow between 3.4 percent and 4.4 percent this year; same-store sales growth ranging from 1.2 percent to 2.2 percent, and diluted earnings per share of $5.1 to $5.8.
The company also reiterated plans to execute approximately 4,885 real estate projects this year, including opening approximately 575 new stores in the US and up to 15 new stores in Mexico, fully remodeling approximately 2,000 stores, remodeling approximately 2,250 stores through Project Elevate, and relocating approximately 45 stores.
3. Capri Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:CPRI)
Capri Holdings grew its share prices by 8.42 percent on Thursday to end at $21.12 apiece as investors reacted to a management shakeup in the Versace brand amid reports that the latter is nearing a merger with Prada.
On Thursday, CPRI announced that Donatella Versace is set to step down from her post as the main designer for Versace after almost three decades, as it shook hands with Prada for the sale of the Italian luxury brand for 1.5 billion euros.
According to Bloomberg, the acquisition of the company founded by the late designer Gianni Versace would help Prada better compete with global luxury rivals such as LVMH which owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co., as well as Kering SA which owns Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, Creed, and Alexander McQueen, among others.
The reports, citing people privy to the matter, said that the deal could be finalized as early as this month and that the price and timing could still change.
2. First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG)
First Majestic rallied by 8.79 percent on Thursday to end at $6.68 apiece as investors resorted to precious metal stocks for safety while cheering news of a former chief executive officer joining the board.
On Thursday, AG announced the addition of Daniel Muniz Quintanilla to its board of directors, effective immediately.
Quintanilla has more than 28 years of experience in international law, M&A, capital markets, and finance in the mining, logistics, and infrastructure industries. He is currently a board member of various companies, including Novagold Resources and Brookfield Infrastructure. He is also a founding partner of Axkan Capital Partners, director of Tharsis Mining, and director and special advisor to the chairman of both Sinda Ltd. and Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Company.
He was also the director of Gatos Silver from April 2021 until AG acquired the company in January 2025.
1. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC)
Intel Corp. jumped by 14.6 percent on Thursday to end at $23.7 as investors cheered the company’s new leadership with the appointment of chip industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its new chief executive officer.
On Wednesday, INTC said Tan would lead the company effective March 18, 2025, signaling that the company was unlikely to split up its chip design and manufacturing operations.
Tan was said to have been offered the CEO position in December last year to lead the company, which was said to be an acquisition target by two of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers—Taiwan Semiconductor and Broadcom.
“Together, we will work hard to restore Intel’s position as a world-class products company, establish ourselves as a world-class foundry and delight our customers like never before,” Tan said in a letter to Intel employees.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
