AI Surge: Affordable Stock Picks Ready to Skyrocket

U.S. stock futures edged lower Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipping while the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained little changed. This follows a rebound on Tuesday, where major indexes recovered most of their previous losses despite ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions.

As of 11:27 AM ET, the Dow was up 26.69 points, or 0.05990209%, at $44582.73. The Nasdaq Composite lost -74.598 points, or -0.34589%, at $21492.32. The S&P 500 declined -11.05 points, or -0.18301%, at $6026.83. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed positive movement, with Health Care leading the way with a 1.14% increase.

Earnings season continues to drive market volatility. Shares of Alphabet, AMD, and Uber dropped sharply after their latest reports, while Mattel saw a strong surge. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields declined, with the 10-year note settling at 4.511% after the Treasury signaled no immediate plans for increased debt issuance.

Commodities also saw movement, with gold prices climbing toward record highs, up nearly 10% year-to-date. Bitcoin, however, slipped below the $99,000 mark as traders assessed the broader risk environment.

Top Movers: Under $10

Acrivon Therapeutics Inc (ACRV) is up 19.97% today to trade at the current level of $7.09. This comes after the company announced that the FDA has granted Breakthrough Device designation for the ACR-368 OncoSignature assay, a test to identify endometrial cancer patients who may benefit from ACR-368 treatment.

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc (CPIX) zoomed 18.62% in today’s trade to $4.46 after reporting positive top-line outcomes from a Phase II trial of ifetroban as a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

In current trading, Pasithea Therapeutics Corp (KTTA) stock is at $3.08 after announcing that the external Safety Review Committee recommended that the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial of PAS-004 in advanced cancer should proceed to cohort 5, 22mg capsule, without modification.

Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB) rose 46.74% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $5.40 after announcing fiscal 2025 third quarter results.

In the current trading session, BigBear.ai Holdings Inc (BBAI) jumped 34.93% to $6.62 over a previous close of $4.91 after reporting that it has been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to advance BigBear.ai’s Virtual Anticipation Network (VANE) prototype.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.25 per share. It has fixed February 06 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on February 13. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.00 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, BMRC has a trailing yield of 3.95% on the current stock price of $25.33.

Shares of H.B. Fuller Company (FUL) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.22 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.87 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that FUL has a trailing yield of 1.42% on the current share price of $61.39.

KB Home (KBH) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from KBH will amount to $0.25 per share. February 06 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for February 20. In the previous year, KBH distributed a total of $0.95 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for KBH stands at 1.42% based on the current stock price of $66.93.

Hope Bancorp Inc (HOPE) will be paying out a dividend of $0.14 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of February 06. Over the past 12 months, HOPE has paid out a total of $0.56 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, HOPE boasts an impressive trailing yield of 4.80% on the current share price of $11.66.

Crypto Market Highlights

• 14 US states, the US government, El Salvador, several countries, banks, and corporations are launching or planning Bitcoin-based reserves and treasuries.

• Blocksquare launched a property tokenization framework in Luxembourg, enabling the tokenization of real estate economic rights in Europe.

• The 0G Foundation introduced an $88.88 million ecosystem fund to boost AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents (DeFAI).

• India’s financial regulator fined Bybit crypto exchange for previous compliance issues, leading to the suspension of its operations in the country.

• El Salvador purchased 12 Bitcoin as part of its growing Bitcoin reserve, capitalizing on a dip in the crypto market.

Most Shorted Stocks

Bit Digital Inc (BTBT) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 22.32% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 1.8. This represents a change of -550000 shares, which corresponds to a -1.58% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $106.92 million. The average daily volume stands at 19.93M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $479.72M.

The AnaptysBio Inc with the symbol ANAB currently has a short interest of 25.47%. The short interest has changed by -730000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 9.5. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $108.37 million. On an average day, 667.79K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $499.71M.

For the stock Luminar Technologies Inc (LAZR), the current short interest is at 27.71%. This represents a significant short interest change of 1140000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +18.94%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 2.4. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $40.24 million.

With the symbol VMAR, the stock currently has a short interest of 33.24%. The short interest change is 1065100 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +1,015.35%. It would take approximately 0.2 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $8.74 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 5.25M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $4.46M.

The stock TRUP has a current short interest of 29.68%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +1.83% while there was a change of 160000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 15.6. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $54.98 million. Trading activity averages at 543.20K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $1.99B.

AI Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Arista Networks Inc (ANET) emerges as a high-quality stock in the AI industry, attaining an impressive score of 66. The stock's profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ADR (TSM) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 62. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, growth, and Piotroski Score. The financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Salesforce Inc (CRM) has the ST Score of 58, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score but weak in growth. Financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Sap SE ADR (SAP) stock has the ST Score of 55 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its growth, and financial strength. However, it shows neutral outlook in stock sentiment, and forecast.

Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK) currently has the ST Score of 55, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth, and financial strength. The stock's stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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