📈 Penny Stocks Steal the Spotlight Amid Market Chaos

US stocks fell sharply on Friday as hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation and fresh AI disruption fears rattled investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.1% (about 550 points), while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 lost 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, extending tech-led declines.

Markets were pressured by concerns that AI could upend service industries, a theme amplified after Block Inc. announced plans to cut nearly half its workforce and revamp operations to adapt to AI-driven changes.

On the economic front, January’s producer price index rose 0.5% month over month, above expectations, while core PPI climbed 0.8%, also topping forecasts.

Investors now turn their attention to Berkshire Hathaway, where CEO Greg Abel is set to release his first annual shareholder letter since succeeding Warren Buffett, alongside the company’s quarterly results and 2025 outlook.

Top Movers: Under $10 

OneMedNet Corp (ONMD) is up 73.19% today to trade at the current level of $1.22. This comes after the company announced the next phase of commercial launch with its RWD Platform powered by Palantir Foundry.

Kore Group Holdings Inc (KORE) zoomed 78.64% in today’s trade to $8.95 after announcing an agreement to be acquired by Searchlight Capital Partners and Abry Partners.

In current trading, Veea Inc (VEEA) stock is at $0.59 after announcing the launch and pilot availability of TerraFabric platform to orchestrate AI and autonomous workloads across distributed edge environments

TTEC Holdings Inc (TTEC) rose 15.84% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $2.56 after announcing fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results.

In the current trading session, Kairos Pharma Ltd (KAPA) jumped 14.09% to $0.63 over a previous close of $0.55 after announcing the signing of term sheet for strategic asset acquisition of two clinical oncology assets from Celyn Therapeutics.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Exelon Corp (EXC) is about to trade ex-dividend Monday, 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 $0.42 per share. It has fixed March 02 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 13. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.60 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, EXC has a trailing yield of 3.22% on the current stock price of $49.64.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends on Monday is Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (PTEN), having a market capitalization of $3.17B. It will pay a dividend of $0.1 per share, the payment date of which is March 16. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.83%.

Shares of Rocky Brands, Inc (RCKY) 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 $0.15 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.62 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that RCKY has a trailing yield of 1.32% on the current share price of $47.03.

Wendy's Co (WEN) is also set to go ex-dividend on Monday. The next dividend payment from WEN will amount to $0.14 per share. March 02 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for March 16. In the previous year, WEN distributed a total of $0.67 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for WEN stands at 8.72% based on the current stock price of $7.69.

Garrett Motion Inc (GTX) will be paying out a dividend of $0.08 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of business hours on the record date of March 02. Over the past 12 months, GTX has paid out a total of $0.20 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, GTX boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.98% on the current share price of $20.4.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Barclays is reportedly exploring blockchain technology for its core banking services, signaling growing interest among major financial institutions in using digital ledger infrastructure to modernize legacy systems.

• A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives has introduced a bill to stop the prosecution of software developers who do not have custody or control over users’ crypto assets.

• National Tax Service in South Korea accidentally published a crypto wallet seed phrase in an official press release, resulting in the loss of 4 million PRTG tokens (about $4.8 million), according to local reports.

• PayPal is expanding access to its stablecoin by launching a new platform that will enable developers to create their own US dollar-pegged tokens backed by PayPal USD.

• A US federal judge ruled that Binance cannot compel a group of American customers to arbitrate claims over crypto token losses incurred before Feb. 20, 2019, allowing a major class action lawsuit to proceed in open court.

Most Shorted Stocks

Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 45.37% 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 13.5. This represents a change of -616792 shares, which corresponds to a -7.55% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $722.35 million. The average daily volume stands at 651.61K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $3.37B.

The Vital Farms Inc with the symbol VITL currently has a short interest of 26.88%. The short interest has changed by -508661 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 6.8. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $201.01 million. On an average day, 2.03M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $950.11M.

For the stock KalVista Pharmaceuticals Inc (KALV), the current short interest is at 40.92%. This represents a significant short interest change of -268783 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -1.34%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 28.8. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $317.88 million.

With the symbol TWST, the stock currently has a short interest of 18.38%. The short interest change is 350698 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of 3.32%. It would take approximately 5.9 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $941.17 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.35M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $2.92B.

The stock RHI has a current short interest of 21.50%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of 31.16%, while there was a change of 5007063 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 4.7. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $257.87 million. Trading activity averages at 2.76M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $2.39B.

Energy Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Teekay Tankers Ltd (TNK) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 63. 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 Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL) as a high-quality Energy stock today, presenting a Score of 63. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. The growth, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Dorian LPG Ltd (LPG) has the ST Score of 61, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, but weak in growth. Stock sentiment and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Black Stone Minerals L.P (BSM) stock has the ST Score of 61, which implies that the Energy company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its growth. However, it shows a neutral outlook in stock sentiment and forecast.

Centuri Holdings Inc (CTRI) currently has the ST Score of 61, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its performance, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its profitability. The stock's 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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