Dear Readers,

Stocks rebounded on Friday after a dip in equity futures overnight, as investors remained hopeful that Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran would not escalate tensions further.

Oil prices initially surged, pushing global benchmark Brent crude futures above $90 a barrel, but later retreated into negative territory.

Meanwhile, stock futures faced pressure after the strike, with Dow futures dropping over 500 points at one stage.

Despite Netflix's strong quarterly earnings, the company's stock fell nearly 7% on the Nasdaq, as it announced it would no longer report paid memberships starting in 2025, despite a 16% increase in subscribers compared to the previous year.

As of 12:13 PM ET, the Dow was up 106.63 points, or 0.2823%, at $37882.02. The Nasdaq Composite lost -294.6055 points, or -1.6937%, at $17099.709. The S&P 500 declined -35.37 points, or -0.71%, at $4975.74. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 7 showed negative movement, with Communication Services leading the way with a 2.42% decrease.

Top Movers: Under $10

AGBA Group Holding Limited (AGBA) is up 27.67% today to trade at the current level of $1.32. This comes after the company announced a definitive merger agreement with Triller Corp.

WiSA Technologies Inc (WISA) zoomed 11.84% in today’s trade to $6.59 after announcing the signing of a WiSA E licensing agreement with a top-three consumer electronics leader in their category.

In current trading, Ault Alliance Inc (AULT) stock is at $0.29 following the declaration from the company that it has received an investment of $44 million to date from Ault & Company under the November 2023 securities purchase agreement.

MariaDB Plc (MRDB) rose 22.65% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.51 as Progress Software (PRGS) confirmed it’s considering an offer for the cloud database company.

In the current trading session, Vertex Energy Inc (VTNR) jumped 15.65% to $1.51 over a previous close of $1.31. The company provided an update to its financial and operational outlook for the first quarter of 2024.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Carpenter Technology Corp. (CRS) is about to trade ex-dividend Monday, meaning that investors who buy the stock after Monday will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.2 per share. It has fixed April 23 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on June 06. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.80 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CRS has a trailing yield of 1.01% on the current stock price of $79.32.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends on Monday is Dell Technologies Inc (DELL), having a market capitalization of $82.93B. It will pay a dividend of $0.45 per share, the payment date of which is May 03. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.27%.

Shares of Dynex Capital, Inc. (DX) will be the talk of the stock market on Monday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.13 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.00 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that DX has a trailing yield of 8.66% on the current share price of $11.59.

Finward Bancorp (FNWD) is also set to go ex-dividend on Monday. The next dividend payment from FNWD will amount to $0.12 per share. April 23 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for May 06. In the previous year, FNWD distributed a total of $0.74 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for FNWD stands at 2.97% based on the current stock price of $24.94.

Greenbrier Cos., Inc. (GBX) will be paying out a dividend of $0.3 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of April 23. Over the past 12 months, GBX has paid out a total of $1.17 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, GBX boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.25% on the current share price of $51.98.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Pavel Durov commits Telegram's future to blockchain, plans to tokenize features and share ad revenue, and onboard Tether's stablecoin.

• Hedgey Finance suffers dual exploits, losing $44.7 million in funds.

• Tether strengthens ties with Telegram's Web3 ecosystem, launching USDT and Tether Gold on The Open Network.

• Bail hearing for Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan postponed by Abuja court.

• Own The Doge DAO secures legal rights to the iconic Shiba Inu meme image.

Most Shorted Stocks

Allogene Therapeutics Inc (ALLO) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 29.33% 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 11.7. This represents a change of 2870000 shares, which corresponds to a +10.34% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $105.95 million. The average daily volume stands at 2.34M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $585.05M.

The Opko Health Inc with the symbol OPK currently has a short interest of 28.56%. The short interest has changed by -8550000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 6.7. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $116.08 million. On an average day, 9.37M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $860.78M.

For the stock Verve Therapeutics Inc (VERV), the current short interest is at 28.03%. This represents a significant short interest change of 1260000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +8.94%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 12.3. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $102.91 million.

The stock AVXL has a current short interest of 26.94%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +10.60% while there was a change of 2120000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 17.3. Trading activity averages at 1.26M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $300.11M.

Energy Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, PBF Energy Inc (PBF) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 57.0. The stock's valuation, profitability, financial strength, and stock sentiment are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of performance, growth, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Gulfport Energy Corp. (GPOR) as a high-quality Energy stock today, presenting a Score of 54.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, and growth. The value, performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Enerplus Corporation (ERF) has the ST Score of 50.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability. Value, performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, piotroski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Viper Energy Inc (VNOM) stock has the ST Score of 49.0 which implies that the Energy company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its value. However, it shows a neutral outlook in performance, growth, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TNP) currently has the ST Score of 56.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its valuation, growth, and financial strength. The stock's profitability, performance, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

✨ If you like our content, be sure to check out: