These Penny Stocks 💥 Popped — Is the Next 10x 🚀 Hiding Here? 🔍

Stocks fell on Thursday as rising interest rates and weakness in tech weighed on the market. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each dropped 0.4%, while the Dow slipped 0.1%.

Oracle shares declined 3% after Redburn issued a sell rating, predicting a 40% drop due to overestimated expectations around its AI-driven cloud business. The stock is now down more than 10% from recent highs.

Yields also rose, with the 10-year Treasury nearing 4.19%, following jobless claims that came in lower than expected. Strong labor data, along with a higher-than-expected revision to second-quarter GDP, reduced hopes for near-term rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Investors remain cautious ahead of Friday’s inflation report and concerns over a potential government shutdown, which could result in widespread federal layoffs.

Overall, tech losses, AI skepticism, and interest rate uncertainty drove Thursday’s market decline.

Top Movers: Under $10 

SciSparc Ltd (SPRC) is up 81.46% today to trade at the current level of $6.95. This comes after the company announced that the board of directors resolved to initiate the launch of an innovative initiative to advance 3D protein modeling using quantum computing technology.

Evaxion A/S ADR (EVAX) zoomed 31.52% in today’s trade to $4.34 after announcing it has out-licensed its vaccine candidate EVX-B3 to Merck (MSD) under a September 2024 agreement.

In current trading, Plus Therapeutics Inc (PSTV) stock is at $0.53 after announcing a National Coverage agreement with UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company for CNSide Cerebrospinal Fluid Assay for Metastatic CNS Cancer.

AtlasClear Holdings Inc (ATCH) rose 16.30% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.78 after announcing the engagement of PCG Advisory, a prominent investor relations, strategic communications, and digital strategies firm.

In the current trading session, PepGen Inc (PEPG) jumped 96.38% to $5.22 over a previous close of $2.66 after announcing the pricing of $100 million public offering.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Isabella Bank Corp (ISBA) 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 September 30. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.12 to its shareholders. Based on last year's worth of payments, ISBA has a trailing yield of 3.19% on the current stock price of $35.12.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Keurig Dr Pepper Inc (KDP), having a market capitalization of $35.22B. It will pay a dividend of $0.23 per share, the payment date of which is October 10. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.55%.

Shares of National Research Corp (NRC) will be the talk of the stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.12 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.48 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that NRC has a trailing yield of 3.42% on the current share price of $14.05.

Playtika Holding Corp (PLTK) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from PLTK will amount to $0.1 per share. September 26 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for October 10. In the previous year, PLTK distributed a total of $0.40 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for PLTK stands at 11.54% based on the current stock price of $3.46.

Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC) will be paying out a dividend of $0.04 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of October 29. Over the past 12 months, PSEC has paid out a total of $0.57 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, PSEC boasts an impressive trailing yield of 21.07% on the current share price of $2.7.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Google has acquired a 5.4% stake in Cipher Mining as part of a $3 billion multi-year data center deal with AI data center company Fluidstack.

• SharpLink Gaming announced plans to tokenize its common stock on the Ethereum blockchain, becoming one of the first major companies to do so.

• Ohio moves toward accepting cryptocurrency payments for government services, following the State Board of Deposit’s approval of its first digital asset payment vendor.

• M2 Capital (UAE-based M2 Holdings) invested $20 million in ENA, the governance token for Ethena, a crypto-native synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum.

• Curve DAO approved a proposal to provide Yield Basis (by Curve founder Michael Egorov) with a $60 million credit line in crvUSD ahead of its mainnet launch.

Most Shorted Stocks

Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 18.89% 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 6.2. This represents a change of -140000 shares, which corresponds to a -1.59% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $470.69 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.43M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $2.70B.

The Luminar Technologies Inc with the symbol LAZR currently has a short interest of 20.28%. The short interest has changed by 820000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 3.2. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $25.91 million. On an average day, 4.22M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $149.57M.

For the stock Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ), the current short interest is at 18.06%. This represents a significant short interest change of -1370000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -2.48%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 7.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $391.6 million.

With the symbol RC, the stock currently has a short interest of 17.55%. The short interest change is -90000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -0.31%. It would take approximately 14.3 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $224.39 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 2.12M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $682.78M.

The stock FFAI has a current short interest of 18.40%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -0.32% while there was a change of -80000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 1.5. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $42.78 million. Trading activity averages at 17.44M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $220.82M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, AN2 Therapeutics Inc (ANTX) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 57. The stock's performance and financial strength are strong. However, its growth and Piotroski Score are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of profitability, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies FibroGen Inc (FGEN) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 57. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability and performance. However, it has weak financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast. The growth and Piotroski Score are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Monopar Therapeutics Inc (MNPR) has the ST Score of 59, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, and financial strength, but weak in growth, and Piotroski Score. Stock sentiment and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Bright Minds Biosciences Inc (DRUG) stock has the ST Score of 58, which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its growth, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in stock sentiment and forecast.

Context Therapeutics Inc (CNTX) currently has the ST Score of 56, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its performance and financial strength, while its weak points are its growth and Piotroski Score. The stock's profitability, 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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