Market Spotlight: AI Game-Changers & $10 Power Plays

Stocks climbed on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 inching closer to a new all-time high. Gains in technology shares like Oracle and Nvidia, fueled by growing enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, buoyed the rally. Netflix and Procter & Gamble also contributed to the rally, posting strong quarterly results that bolstered investor confidence.

As of, 11:26 AM ET, the Dow was up 74.64 points, or 0.16954%, at $44100.45. The Nasdaq Composite added 319.544 points, or 1.48167%, at $21886.05. The S&P 500 rose 41.62 points, or 0.68802%, at $6090.86. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 7 showed negative movement, with Consumer Defensive leading the way with a 0.8% decrease

The market’s momentum persisted even after President Donald Trump hinted at a potential 10% tariff on China, which could be implemented as early as Feb. 1. This follows similar considerations for Canada and Mexico earlier this week. Despite tariff concerns weighing on sentiment, stocks have rallied on optimism surrounding Trump’s pro-business agenda.

Beyond trade, attention remains firmly on Trump’s commitment to his pro-business agenda, including his push for looser regulations—a promise that fueled a rally in banking stocks following his November election victory. Key components of the so-called Trump trade, such as small caps, oil stocks, and even bitcoin, are expected to remain highly reactive to the administration’s moves in the days ahead.

Top Movers: Under $10

Blackboxstocks Inc (BLBX) is up 117.75% today to trade at the current level of $3.68. This comes after the company announced that it has secured financing of up to $2,000,000 in anticipation of potential merger.

ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd (IPA) zoomed 50.89% in today’s trade to $0.74 after reporting that it has developed a new class of GLP-1 therapies entirely through artificial intelligence, designed to enhance efficacy, safety, therapy longevity, and patient satisfaction in diabetes treatment.

In current trading, ScanTech AI Systems Inc (STAI) stock is at $1.91 after announcing the appointment of its new Chief Financial Officer, James White.

New Era Helium Inc (NEHC) rose 33.58% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $3.66. The company announced the finalization 50/50 joint venture with Sharon AI, Inc., a High-Performance Computing business specializing in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud GPU Compute Infrastructure, and Cloud Storage.

In the current trading session, Rekor Systems Inc (REKR) jumped 26.43% to $1.99 over a previous close of $1.57 after announcing that it has achieved New Jersey’s rigorous certification for its industry-leading Rekor Scout® vehicle recognition platform.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Argan, Inc (AGX) 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 $0.38 per share. It has fixed January 23 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on January 31. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.27 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, AGX has a trailing yield of 0.68% on the current stock price of $187.29.

Shares of Riley Exploration Permian Inc (REPX) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.38 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.46 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that REPX has a trailing yield of 4.03% on the current share price of $36.25.

Tomorrow, VSE Corp (VSEC) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from VSEC will amount to $0.1 per share. January 23 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for February 06. In the previous year, VSEC distributed a total of $0.40 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for VSEC stands at 0.38% based on the current stock price of $103.97.

Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc (COKE) will be paying out a dividend of $2.5 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of January 24. Over the past 12 months, COKE has paid out a total of $4.00 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, COKE boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.30% on the current share price of $1352.78.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the resolution of the Solana backlog issue, which caused the exchange to experience pending transaction times of up to 21 hours.

• Ramp Network has expanded its partnership with MetaMask, allowing users to withdraw Ether directly from layer-2 (L2) networks into fiat currencies.

• Crypto.com launched an institutional trading platform to complement its existing crypto retail trading mobile application.

• Ethereum core developer Eric Conner announced his departure from the Ethereum community to explore innovations in artificial intelligence, following Vitalik Buterin's dismissal of leadership change suggestions.

• UAE-based crypto financial services firm CLS Global agreed to plead guilty to charges of market manipulation and wire fraud related to a crypto token created by the FBI to uncover fraud.

Most Shorted Stocks

Anavex Life Sciences Corporation (AVXL) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 25.70% 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 12.7. This represents a change of 980000 shares, which corresponds to a +4.71% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $212.33 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.95M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $825.85M.

The ChargePoint Holdings Inc with the symbol CHPT currently has a short interest of 28.52%. The short interest has changed by -7620000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 7.1. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $116.96 million. On an average day, 17.04M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $455.61M.

For the stock Bluebird bio Inc (BLUE), the current short interest is at 25.00%. This represents a significant short interest change of -170000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -6.59%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 5.9. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $19.04 million.

With the symbol MARA, the stock currently has a short interest of 26.18%. The short interest change is 5430000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +6.89%. It would take approximately 1.4 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $45.81 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 60.62M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $6.45B.

The stock QMCO has a current short interest of 32.26%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +37.41% while there was a change of 326700 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 0.4. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $2.96 billion. Trading activity averages at 3.48M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $170.23M.

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 67. 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 Ansys Inc (ANSS) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 56. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak growth. The stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Medtronic Plc (MDT) has the ST Score of 54, 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, and financial strength. Stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR) stock has the ST Score of 58 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) currently has the ST Score of 57, 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 financial strength. The stock's growth, 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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