The stock market fell further into negative territory on Tuesday as trade tensions between the US and its largest trading partners continued.
The Dow Jones fell the most, losing 1.55 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 1.22 percent. The Nasdaq dropped by 0.35 percent.
Following the start of President Donald Trump’s blanket 25-percent tax on goods from Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, and a 10-percent tax on Chinese imports, both Canada and China moved to retaliate with higher taxes on US imports. Mexico is also expected to follow suit.
Despite uncertainties, 10 companies managed to stay stronger, posting impressive gains mostly on the back of better earnings performance. In this article, we have detailed the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with Tuesday’s top gainers, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.
A trader cheers his market gains. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
10. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, adding 8.57 percent to close at $5.32 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting ahead of its 2024 earnings results.
Slated for Thursday, March 13, QBTS investors will be looking out for any cues on the company’s business outlook for the rest of the year, taking into account the booming Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing industries in China that are challenging US players.
Earlier, QBTS announced that it successfully developed, along with Staque Solutions, a commercial hybrid-quantum application that would help accelerate computing solutions for agricultural decision-makers.
The new product was expected to enhance agri-robotics, farming sustainability, planning for ever-changing conditions, and most importantly, crop production.
9. Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)
Viking Therapeutics grew its share prices by 9.30 percent on Tuesday to close at $28.09 apiece as investors gobbled up shares in the company in hopes that it would announce new developments in two investor conferences this month.
In a statement, VKTX said it would participate in Leerink Partners Global Health Conference on March 10 to 12, and in Jefferies Biotech on the Beach Summit from March 11 to 12, both in Miami, Florida.
Latest reports about the company surfaced that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is set to take over VKTX, and Morgan Stanley has been tapped as its advisor for the acquisition.
The rumors came days after the company released its earnings performance in the fourth quarter of the year, widening its net loss by 44 percent to $35.4 million from the $24.6 million in the same period a year earlier primarily due to the increase in research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses, partially offset by an increase in interest income.
Net loss for full-year 2024 also widened by 28 percent to $109.96 million from $85.895 million in 2023.
8. Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH)
Enphase snapped a five-day losing streak on Tuesday after hitting a new all-time low, jumping 9.44 percent to close at $57.86 as investors resorted to bargain-hunting to take advantage of cheap valuation.
At intra-day trading, ENPH dropped to its lowest price of $51.63 apiece before investors turned buyers towards the close.
Over the past year, the company noticeably was tracking a downward trajectory, with year-to-date price alone recording a 15.75-percent drop.
Further aggravating the sour sentiment was President Donald Trump’s lukewarm reception of the renewable energy sector, which could dampen demand for the said resources.
According to Trump, the net-zero goal has pushed up prices of energy for both consumers and businesses.
In the fourth quarter of the year, ENPH saw net income triple to $62.16 million from $20.20 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenues rose by 26 percent to $382.7 million from $302.57 million.
However, full-year net income fell by a whopping 76.6 percent to $102.6 million from $438.9 million in 2023, while revenues declined by 42 percent to $1.33 billion from $2.29 billion year-on-year.
7. MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)
MicroStrategy Incorporated, doing business as Strategy, jumped by 9.66 percent on Tuesday to finish at $275.15 each as investors cheered news developments on President Donald Trump’s planned cryptocurrency reserve.
On his social media account, Trump announced that he ordered the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve, which will include cryptocurrencies such as XRP, SOL, and ADA.
More than an hour later, he added a post saying that BTC and ETH would also be included.
“I will make sure the US is the Crypto Capital of the World,” Trump noted.
MSTR, which holds nearly 500,000 Bitcoins, saw its share prices spike by as much as 16.8 percent at intra-day trading on Tuesday alone.
It also pushed Bitcoin’s prices higher to retest the $94,000 level before traders turned sellers to drag it back to the $87,000 level as of this writing.
6. GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS)
GDS Holdings jumped by 11.31 percent on Tuesday to end at $35.44 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting following a 16.32-percent drop on Monday.
GDS, a company that builds and runs data centers in China and Southeast Asia, earns a generally bullish sentiment among analysts amid the booming Artificial Intelligence industry in China, which is already creating a ripple effect in GDS’s business.
Despite economic uncertainties from the ongoing trade war, analyst Louis Tsang from Citi Group raised his outlook and price target for GDS.
From $25.1 previously, Tsang now projects GDS to more than double to $51.2. The price target represents a 44-percent upside from the company’s last stock price.
He also maintained a “buy” rating on the stock, saying it was based on optimism toward growing AI data center-related spending from Chinese cloud service providers.
5. Nuscale Power Corp. (NYSE:SMR)
Nuscale Power surged by 11.52 percent on Tuesday to close at $17.23 each as investors cheered news of improved sales last year.
In a statement, SMR said it ended with a 643-percent improvement in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 at $34.2 million versus $4.6 million in the same period a year earlier, despite net loss widening by 220 percent to $180.3 million from $56.4 million.
For the full year, revenues rose by 62 percent to $37 million from $22.8 million in 2023 while net loss expanded by 93 percent to $348.4 million from $180.1 million.
Looking ahead, SMR President and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins said that the company is currently in talks with major technology and industrial companies, utilities, and government agencies for the supply of clean and emission-free energy.
“Whether for AI and the data economy or industrial applications, prospective customers are adamant that no resource is more important in the years ahead than 24/7 clean energy at scale,” he said.
4. GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB)
GitLab saw its share prices surge by 11.64 percent on Tuesday to finish at $62.80 apiece as investors cheered its impressive earnings performance last year coupled with a rating upgrade from investment firms.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, GTLB said it swung to a net income of $10.8 million from a $36.9 million net loss in the same period a year earlier, as revenues increased by 29 percent to $211.4 million from $163.8 million.
GTLB, however, remained at a net loss during the fiscal year, albeit already a little shy of profitability with a $2.4 million net loss, reversing a $425.7 million net loss the year earlier.
Following its earnings results, TD Cowen maintained a “buy” rating and a price target of $82 on the company’s shares, representing a 30.6-percent upside from its latest stock price.
Piper Sandler echoed the same view, reiterating GTLB’s “overweight” rating and $85 price target, representing a 35-percent upside from its Tuesday close.
3. AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)
AST SpaceMobile grew its share prices by 11.67 percent on Tuesday to end at $28.61 apiece as investor sentiment was boosted by recently bagged deals and beating analyst estimates for its latest earnings performance.
The company, which reported its earnings results on Monday, beat earnings per share estimates by 6 cents, ending at -$0.12 versus a -$0.18 estimate.
ASTS, however, posted a 244-percent higher net loss in full-year 2024 at $300 million versus the $87 million registered in 2023.
Net loss in the fourth quarter alone also grew by 12 percent to $35.8 million from $31.9 million in the same period a year earlier.
Among its significant business updates, ASTS said it officially clinched a definitive commercial agreement with Vodafone through 2034 to establish a framework to offer SpaceMobile service in its 20+ countries across Europe and Africa.
It also secured a contract with the US Space Development Agency, which is expected to rake in $43 million in revenues.
2. Genius Sports Ltd. (NYSE:GENI)
Genius Sports rallied by 11.9 percent on Tuesday to end at $9.31 apiece following the company’s strong earnings performance last year, coupled with an optimistic outlook from an analyst.
In a statement, GENI said its net loss in the full year of 2024 narrowed by 26 percent to $63 million from $85.5 million in 2023, while revenues increased by 24 percent to $510.9 million from $413 million year-on-year.
Meanwhile, net loss in the fourth quarter alone shrunk by 26 percent to $28 million from $38 million as revenues grew by 38 percent to $175 million from $127 million.
Following its earnings, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey gave GENI a price target of $12 while maintaining its “buy” rating. The adjustment was based on the company’s strong earnings performance and future growth potential.
1. Okta Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Okta Inc. skyrocketed by 24.27 percent on Tuesday to end at $108.31 apiece as investor sentiment was fueled by its impressive earnings performance.
During the last three months ending January 31, 2025, OKTA said it swung to a net income of $23 million, reversing a net loss of $44 million in the same period a year earlier as revenues rose by 12.7 percent to $682 million from $605 million.
In the last twelve months alone, OKTA posted a net income of $28 million, a reversal from the $355 million net loss a year earlier, as revenues grew by 15 percent to $2.6 billion from $2.26 billion.
Looking ahead, OKTA expects the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 to record revenues between $678 million and $680 million, or a growth rate of 10 percent year-on-year.
For the full year of fiscal 2026, revenues were pegged at a range of $2.85 billion to $2.86 billion, or between 9 and 10 percent growth rate year-on-year.
While we acknowledge the potential of OKTA 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 more promising than OKTA but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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