Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories.
During the holiday-shortened week, U.S. markets staged a strong rebound as the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut at the Dec. 10 meeting surged to nearly 90%, driven by dovish commentary from central bank officials. The rally gained momentum amid speculation over Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's successor, with National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett emerging as President Donald Trump's leading candidate.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stole the spotlight, hitting a $4 trillion valuation and surpassing Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT), fueled by AI optimism and new product rollouts. In contrast, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) stumbled on concerns that Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) may invest in Alphabet's AI chips, threatening Nvidia's dominance.
Meanwhile, AI optimism spilled into health care, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) posting its best month since the pandemic. Auto stocks also surged, with General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) hitting record highs and advancing its comeback story.
Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
The Bulls
"Alphabet Stocks Hits New Highs As Meta Mulls Deploying Google AI Chips In Data Centers", by Adam Eckert, reports that Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares surged to fresh highs after a report that Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) may begin deploying Google's AI chips — tensor processing units (TPUs) — in its data centers, a move that could position Alphabet as a serious challenger to NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) in the AI-infrastructure race.
"Reddit Stock Jumps 7% As Meta, Google's Potential Chip Deal Boosts Social Media Sector", by Anusuya Lahiri, reports that Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) shares surged ~7 % on Tuesday after news that Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) may leverage Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s AI-chips (TPUs) — a development seen as boosting the broader social media/AI-infrastructure sector and adding bullish momentum behind Reddit stock.
"Zoom Stock Jumps As Q3 Results Come In Ahead Of Expectations", by Adam Eckert, reports that Zoom Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) posted third-quarter revenue of $1.23 billion, slightly above expectations, and delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.52, beating estimates of $1.44. The company's enterprise revenue rose 6.1% year-over-year, while online revenue increased 2.0%. Management said the quarter featured strong adoption of its AI-first tools and raised full-year guidance.
For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:
Autodesk Reports Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results, Shares Rise
Fluence Energy Shares Soar After Q4 Earnings: Here's Why
Rocket Lab Stock Continues Its Ascent After Hours: Here's Why
The Bears
"Nuclear Stock Meltdown Continues For Oklo, NuScale, Nano", by Erica Kollmann, reports that shares of advanced-nuclear and small-modular reactor (SMR) firms — Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO), NuScale Power Corp. (NYSE:SMR) and Nano Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:NNE) — have tumbled roughly 37%-55% in November amid a broader sell-off in the nuclear-energy space. The sharp decline reflects a growing investor reassessment of these names, given that all remain pre-revenue, face lengthy regulatory and construction timelines, and are increasingly viewed as speculative "hype-cycle" plays rather than near-term profit generators — especially after macro turbulence hit AI-energy infrastructure plays.
"Why Novo Nordisk Stock Keeps Getting Punished For Headlines That Don't Matter", by Surbhi Jain, argues that Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) remains strong fundamentally — dominating GLP-1s with a deep pipeline — yet its roughly 69% stock slide reflects investor overreactions to headlines with limited business impact, leaving valuation attractive at ~18× forward earnings with expected ~20% EPS growth.
"‘Unseasonably Warm' Weather Hits Burlington Revenue", by Nabaparna Bhattacharya, reports that Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) saw Q3 sales of $2.710 billion — up ~7% year over year — but slightly below the $2.739 billion Street estimate, as management said unseasonably warm weather depressed foot traffic and demand for outerwear after the back-to-school period, dragging comparable-store sales to just 1%.
For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:
Martin Shkreli Takes Aim At Capricor — Stock Sinks
Pichai Says Quantum Is Where ‘AI Was 5 Years Ago' — Are Quantum Stocks The Next Moonshot Trade?
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