Why Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (PSTV) Soared on Thursday

We recently published an article titled Micro-, Small-Cap Firms Dominate Market Rally. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTV) stands against the other stocks.

The stock market pulled back to the red territory on Thursday, with all major indices posting significant losses as tariff threats continued to rattle investors.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted the largest loss, down 2.61 percent, followed by the S&P 500 with 1.78 percent, and the Dow Jones with 0.99 percent.

On Thursday, 10 micro and small-cap companies defied a broader market decline, with their share prices jumping by as much as double digits. One company stood out, soaring more than 300 percent during the session.

To come up with Thursday’s top performers, we considered the stocks with the highest day change performance.

A clinical researcher in a lab examining a new biopharmaceutical product.

Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTV)

Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTV) soared by 311.43 percent on Thursday to finish at $1.44 apiece as investors gobbled up shares in the company following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s grant of Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to Rhenium Obisbemeda for the treatment of leptomeningeal metastases (LM) in patients with lung cancer.

The FDA grants ODD status to an investigational drug or biologic intended to prevent, diagnose, or treat a rare disease or condition affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States.

According to Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTV), ODD provides certain benefits to drug developers, including seven potential years of market exclusivity, tax credits for qualified clinical trials, and exemptions from significant regulatory fees, including the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) charge of $4.3 million in 2025 and the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) requirements.

Overall PSTV ranks 1st on our list of Thursday’s top performers. While we acknowledge the potential of PSTV 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 PSTV but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.