Midday Snapshot: Key AI Stocks & $10 Gems

U.S. stocks were showing mixed results in relatively quiet trading on Wednesday morning.

As of 11:33 AM ET, the Dow was down -197.52 points, or -0.468%, at $42010.71. The Nasdaq Composite added 35.459 points, or 0.1778%, at $19980.303. The S&P 500 declined -3.06 points, or -0.05%, at $5729.88. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed positive movement, with Utilities leading the way with a 1.37% increase.

Investors are turning their attention to the upcoming batch of economic data releases later this week, with a particular focus on the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge set to be released on Friday. These numbers are expected to provide more clarity on the future path of interest rate cuts.

Stocks on the Move Today:

• Ford and General Motors fell after both automakers were downgraded.

• Micron Technology is set to report earnings later in the day.

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise saw an upgrade, driving gains in its stock price.

Top Movers: Under $10

Eightco Holdings Inc (OCTO) is up 82.33% today to trade at the current level of $4.54. This comes after the company announced $100 million revenue forecast and released 2025 strategic plan.

Markforged Holding Corporation (MKFG) zoomed 74.36% in today’s trade to $4.76 after announcing a definitive agreement with Nano Dimension Ltd. (NNDM) pursuant to which Nano Dimension will acquire all outstanding shares of Markforged in an all-cash transaction for $5.00 per share.

In current trading, Motorsport Games Inc (MSGM) stock is at $1.41 after releasing the September Update for “Le Mans Ultimate”, the official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

DigiAsia Corp. (FAAS) rose 17.63% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $2.04 after PayMate India announced that it has entered into a binding term sheet for the potential acquisition of DigiAsia Bios Pte Ltd., Singapore, a fully owned subsidiary of DigiAsia Corporation (FAAS).

In the current trading session, CERo Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (CERO) jumped 18.46% to $0.11 over a previous close of $0.09 after announcing that existing investors have committed a financing of $1.25 million.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Invitation Homes Inc (INVH) 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 $0.28 per share. It has fixed September 26 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on October 18. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.10 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, INVH has a trailing yield of 3.10% on the current stock price of $35.49.

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc (PM) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $1.35 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $5.20 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that PM has a trailing yield of 4.28% on the current share price of $121.49.

Tomorrow, Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from PSEC will amount to $0.06 per share. September 26 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for October 22. In the previous year, PSEC distributed a total of $0.72 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for PSEC stands at 13.36% based on the current stock price of $5.39.

ArrowMark Financial Corp (BANX) will be paying out a dividend of $0.45 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of September 26. Over the past 12 months, BANX has paid out a total of $1.79 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, BANX boasts an impressive trailing yield of 8.33% on the current share price of $21.45.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Chainlink projects that the global tokenized asset market could reach $10 trillion by 2030, driven by institutional adoption and regulatory advancements, despite recent crypto market volatility.

• BitcoinOS (BOS) has open-sourced BitSNARK, a zero-knowledge verification protocol for Bitcoin. 

• Ether.fi confirmed that no user funds were compromised during a recent attempted domain takeover, which was thwarted before significant damage occurred. 

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin endorsed a recent milestone in stablecoin usage on the Celo blockchain.

• Golem addressed community concerns in a report after transferring over 135,000 Ether to centralized exchanges.

  Most Shorted Stocks

Tenon Medical Inc (TNON) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 159.82% 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 0.6. This represents a change of 809000 shares, which corresponds to a +13,262.30% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $4.26 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.44M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $2.98M.

The B. Riley Financial Inc with the symbol RILY currently has a short interest of 74.41%. The short interest has changed by -600000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 3.6. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $59.93 million. On an average day, 3.23M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $156.95M.

For the stock Childrens Place Inc (PLCE), the current short interest is at 72.50%. This represents a significant short interest change of 660000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +23.40%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 1.5. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $57.73 million.

With the symbol MPW, the stock currently has a short interest of 42.26%. The short interest change is -3680000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -1.55%. It would take approximately 17.3 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $20.98 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 13.60M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $3.62B.

The stock GRPN has a current short interest of 34.00%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +5.46% while there was a change of 370000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 5.6. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $2.37 billion. Trading activity averages at 1.28M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $403.36M.

AI Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Sap SE ADR (SAP) emerges as a high-quality stock in the AI industry, attaining an impressive score of 57. The stock's profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its growth, and financial strength are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 56. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak financial strength. The growth, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR) has the ST Score of 64, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. Growth, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Arista Networks Inc (ANET) stock has the ST Score of 66 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, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, and forecast.

Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM) currently has the ST Score of 59, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. The stock's growth, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

Best Regards,
Stocks Telegraph Team