Wall Street finished the trading week stronger, posting gains by more than 1 percent after slipping into the negative territory at intra-day trading following a clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
Following the televised meeting, the two leaders concluded the encounter without a deal for joint development of mineral resources.
The Dow Jones jumped by 1.39 percent, the S&P 500 surged by 1.59 percent, and the Nasdaq soared by 1.63 percent.
The broader market optimism spilled into individual stocks, with 10 companies ending the trading session with strong gains. In this article, we have detailed the reasons behind their impressive performance.
To come up with Friday’s top gainers, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in daily trading volume.
The New York Stock Exchange building. Photo by Дмитрий Трепольский on Pexels
10. Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT)
Riot Platforms grew its share prices by 7.16 percent on Friday to finish at $9.28 apiece as investor sentiment was fueled by its impressive earnings performance last year.
In a statement, RIOT said it achieved a net income of $109.4 million and a 34-percent increase in revenues at $376.7 million from $280.7 million in the same period a year earlier on the back of a $132-million increase in Bitcoin mining revenue.
Total Bitcoin mining revenues stood at $321 million for the year, as compared with only $189 million in 2023, primarily driven by higher average Bitcoin prices and an increase in operational hash rate, partially offset by an increase in network difficulty and the block subsidy ‘halving’ event.
Due to the halving event, the number of Bitcoins produced was lower by 27 percent, at 4,828, versus the 6,626 mined in 2023.
9. Venture Global Inc. (NYSE:VG)
Venture Global rose by 8.41 percent on Friday to finish at $15.09 apiece as investors scrambled to snap up shares in the company ahead of its fourth quarter earnings performance on March 6 and a $40-million dividend payout by the end of March.
In a statement, VG said its board of directors gave the green light for the company to pay a $0.0165 dividend per common A and B shares, amounting to $40 million, payable on March 31, 2025. The dividends will be paid to shareholders with the company’s stock as of the record date, March 10, 2025.
In recent news, the company also received the approval of US federal regulators to increase the export capacity of its liquefied natural gas plant in Plaquemines, Louisiana, to 27.2 million metric tons per year from 24 million tons previously.
The capacity increase represents a 13-percent higher capacity and strengthened the US as the world’s largest fuel exporter.
8. Hims & Hers Health Inc. (NYSE:HIMS)
Hims & Hers saw its share prices jump by 9.07 percent on Friday to finish at $45.09 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting following a series of selling positions last week due to the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that the blockbuster Wegovy and Ozempic drugs, which are manufactured by one of its competitors, has already been replenished.
It can be recalled that the FDA’s announcement took a toll on HIMS’ share prices, having lost 25.79 percent of its value in just the past week’s trading.
HIMS, a one-stop telehealth service for men’s care and wellness, has been making a compounded knock-off version of the blockbuster treatments.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, HIMS saw net income spike by 1,990 percent to $26.025 million from $1,245 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenues increased by 81 percent to $369.5 million from $204 million.
The company also swung to a net profit of $126 million from a net loss of $23.5 million in 2023 as revenues rebounded by 64 percent to $1.173 billion from $715 million.
7. Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE:RKT)
Rocket Companies’ share prices rose by 9.12 percent on Friday to finish at $14 apiece following a stellar earnings performance last year.
In a statement, RKT said it swung to a net income of $649 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from a $233 million net loss in the same period a year earlier, as well as to a net profit of $636 million in full-year 2024 from a $390 million net loss in 2023.
Revenues for the quarter expanded by 155 percent to $1.769 billion from $694 million year-on-year, while revenues for the same comparable year increased by 34 percent to $5.1 billion from $3.799 billion.
Looking ahead, RKT CEO Varun Krishna posted an optimistic outlook for the company, saying it gained momentum heading into 2025 with the launch of its unified Rocket brand and rocket.com platform.
RKT expects revenues in the first quarter of the year to settle between $1.175 billion and $1.325 billion.
6. The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)
The AES Corporation saw its share prices jump by 11.66 percent on Friday to end at $11.59 apiece as investors cheered news of its stellar earnings performance last year.
In a statement, AES said net income attributable to the company spiked by 597 percent to $1.686 billion last year from $242 million in 2023, while revenues inched down by 3 percent to $12.28 billion from $12.67 billion.
In the fourth quarter alone, AES swung to a net income of $560 million from a net loss of $94 million, despite revenues dipping by 0.2 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.97 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Looking ahead, AES said it was on track to achieve targets of signing 14 to 17 gigawatts of signed power purchase agreements between 2023 and 2025, with another 3.2 GW of renewable energy expected to be completed this year.
5. Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR)
Archer Aviation rose by 12.12 percent on Friday to end at $8.88 apiece as investor sentiment was boosted by an investment bank’s upgrade of its price target.
In a report, Canaccord raised ACHR’s price target to $13.50 from $13 previously while maintaining the buy rating on the stock.
According to Canaccord analyst Austin Moeller, the adjustment was based on ACHR’s strong positioning in the emerging urban air mobility market, particularly its potential to be among the first, if not the first, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) operator for UAM.
Earlier this year, ACHR said it was ready to launch its flying taxis in Abu Dhabi this year, saying that it made great partners with Etihad and its engineering arm, among others.
4. Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ:BTDR)
Bitdeer extended its winning streak for a third day on Friday, rallying 13.04 percent to finish at $12.31 each as investors cheered news of the firm’s additional investments in Bitcoin despite a disappointing earnings performance last year.
In a recent post on X, formerly Twitter, BTDR announced it purchased 50 Bitcoins at a price of $81,475 apiece for a total of $4.07 million, as the company took advantage of the drop in Bitcoin prices over the past few days.
With the latest purchase, BTDR’s overall Bitcoin holdings now stand at 640.
Last week, BTDR announced its latest earnings results, where net losses in the fourth quarter of the year widened by 10,538 percent to $531.9 million from $5 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenues declined by 40 percent to $69 million from $114.8 million year-on-year.
According to the company, the performance was due to its prioritized investments in proprietary ASIC technology, which temporarily limited its hashrate growth and impacted its financial performance.
3. Immunitybio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)
Immunitybio snapped a six-day losing streak on Friday as investors resorted to bargain-hunting to take advantage of its cheap valuation while also cheering news that it has officially received the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation for ANKTIVA and CARNK to treat lymphopenia and pancreatic cancer.
In other news, earlier last month, IBRX was also authorized by the FDA to help address the supply shortage of bladder cancer treatments in the US through bringing a vital alternative source of BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin).
Upon securing FDA approval, IBRX said supplies of rBCG would be shipped immediately. The alternative source was developed by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume.
Data from the National Cancer Institute in 2024 showed that there were 83,190 estimated new cases of bladder cancer in the US, while 16,840 died from the disease during the period. The current survival rate for individuals with bladder cancer is 78.4 percent.
2. SoundHound AI Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN)
SoundHound AI rallied by 17.48 percent on Friday to close at $10.82 apiece as investors cheered the company’s optimistic outlook for the year despite its dismal earnings performance last year.
In its earnings release, SOUN said it was raising its revenue outlook for the year to settle between $157 million and $177 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, SOUN saw its net loss widened by 1,333 percent to close at $259 million from $18 million in the same period a year earlier, as gross profit doubled to $34.5 million from $17 million.
In full-year 2024 alone, net loss increased by 294 percent to $350.68 million from $88.9 million despite revenues growing by 85 percent to $84.69 million from $45.87 million year-on-year.
1. Perrigo Company Plc (NYSE:PRGO)
Perrigo saw its share prices on Friday soar by 20.18 percent to end at $29 each as investor sentiment was fueled by the company beating analyst estimates for its fourth-quarter earnings performance.
In a statement, PRGO reported earnings per share of $0.93 in the fourth quarter of the year, beating analyst estimates of $0.92.
Earnings, however, were weak, as net loss widened by 38 percent to $44.5 million from $32.3 million in the same quarter of 2023, as net sales dipped by 1.5 percent to $1.138 billion from $1.156 billion.
Meanwhile, net loss in the full year of 2024 soared by 1,252 percent to $171.8 million from $12.7 million in 2023, as net sales dropped 6 percent to $4.373 billion from $4.655 billion in 2023.
While we acknowledge the potential of PRGO 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 PRGO but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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