💥 These 5 Penny Stocks Are Defying the Market—Here’s Why

Stocks fluctuated on Tuesday as investors focused on ongoing global trade talks and a key Federal Reserve meeting. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after briefly reaching a new high, while the Nasdaq remained flat and the Dow Jones fell 185 points (0.4%).

Major tech stocks like Nvidia, Palantir, Microsoft, and Alphabet saw slight declines. In contrast, Oracle rose 4% after reports it will help enable TikTok to continue U.S. operations, following news of a tentative U.S.-China agreement on TikTok.

Investor sentiment remained cautious amid concerns over upcoming reciprocal tariffs and anticipation of the Fed’s interest rate decision. A rate cut is fully expected, but attention will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments for future policy signals. The meeting follows the Senate's confirmation of Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Aptevo Therapeutics Inc (APVO) is up 29.17% today to trade at the current level of $1.86. This comes after the company announced a 100% remission rate in Cohort 3 of its Phase 1b/2 RAINIER trial evaluating mipletamig.

Ysx Tech Co.Ltd (YSXT) zoomed 18.44% in today’s trade to $3.11. This rally can be attributed to news that YSXT and XUnit signed an MOU to build a compliance-based platform for tokenizing real-world assets.

In current trading, Flux Power Holdings inc (FLUX) stock is at $2.45 after announcing that it will raise about $5 million through the sale of 258,144 Prefunded Warrants and 1,214,769 Common Warrants.

Soluna Holdings Inc (SLNH) rose 12.90% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.05 after announcing the close of scalable credit facility in an amount of up to $100 million from Generate Capital, PBC.

In the current trading session, Nukkleus Inc (NUKK) jumped 13.41% to $5.84 over a previous close of $5.15 after announcing the signing of an Amended and Restated Securities Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% of Star 26 Capital Inc.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Avnet Inc (AVT) 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 $0.35 per share. It has fixed September 17 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on September 26. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.32 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, AVT has a trailing yield of 2.49% on the current stock price of $52.95.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Huntington Bancshares, Inc (HBAN), having a market capitalization of $25.32B. It will pay a dividend of $0.15 per share, the payment date of which is October 01. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.59%.

Shares of Chemung Financial Corp (CHMG) will be the talk of the stock market on Wednesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.34 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.26 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that CHMG has a trailing yield of 2.39% on the current share price of $52.67.

NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from NXPI will amount to $1.01 per share. September 17 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for October 08. In the previous year, NXPI distributed a total of $4.06 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for NXPI stands at 1.85% based on the current stock price of $219.83.

Horizon Technology Finance Corp (HRZN) will be paying out a dividend of $0.11 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of business hours on the record date of November 17. Over the past 12 months, HRZN has paid out a total of $1.32 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, HRZN boasts an impressive trailing yield of 19.51% on the current share price of $6.76.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Major Swiss banks completed a proof-of-concept using blockchain and smart contracts for interbank payments, achieving the first legally binding bank payment on a public blockchain.

• Solana-based corporate treasuries have surpassed $4 billion as firms continue accumulating the cryptocurrency.

• France may block crypto firms licensed in other EU countries from operating domestically, challenging the enforcement of the EU’s unified crypto law.

• Crypto Finance, part of Deutsche Börse Group, introduced a new off-exchange settlement solution aimed at enhancing capital efficiency and flexibility for institutional investors.

• China’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, Next Technology Holding, plans to sell up to $500 million in stock to buy more Bitcoin and fund other initiatives.

Most Shorted Stocks

Jack In The Box, Inc (JACK) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 26.79% 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 4.3. This represents a change of -750000 shares, which corresponds to a -14.10% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $87.29 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.10M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $360.59M.

The Applied Digital Corporation with the symbol APLD currently has a short interest of 30.43%. The short interest has changed by 6530000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 1.8. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $1.24 billion. On an average day, 32.06M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $5.15B.

For the stock KalVista Pharmaceuticals Inc (KALV), the current short interest is at 21.92%. This represents a significant short interest change of 520000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +5.18%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 8.4. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $148.05 million.

With the symbol AAOI, the stock currently has a short interest of 21.78%. The short interest change is 1030000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +8.63%. It would take approximately 2.4 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $294.73 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 5.39M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $1.74B.

The stock ARCT has a current short interest of 21.76%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +5.25% while there was a change of 270000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 10.1. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $245.0 million. Trading activity averages at 542.46K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $512.95M.

EV Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Baidu Inc ADR (BIDU) emerges as a high-quality stock in the EV industry, attaining an impressive score of 51. The stock's profitability and performance are strong. However, its growth is weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of financial strength, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies QuantumScape Corp (QS) as a high-quality EV stock today, presenting a Score of 53. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak profitability and growth. The stock sentiment and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Sociedad Quimica Y Minera de Chile S.A. ADR (SQM) has the ST Score of 59, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, growth, and the Piotroski Score. Performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

EVgo Inc (EVGO) stock has the ST Score of 51, which implies that the EV company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its performance and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast. However, it shows neutral outlook in the Piotroski Score.

Toyota Motor Corporation ADR (TM) currently has the ST Score of 52, which signifies a huge upward potential. The EV stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth, and financial strength. 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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