The S&P 500 powered higher this week despite the U.S. government shutdown, ending Friday at a record high 6,715.79. Western Digital, Bio-Techne, Coinbase, Charles River Labs and Fair Isaac led the week's gains for the index through Thursday.
S&P 500 Leaders
Western Digital spiked nearly 23% for the week, pushing to all-time highs. The hard disk drive maker earlier this week received a major price target hike from Morgan Stanley, along with rival Seagate Technology.
Analyst Erik Woodring noted that HDD demand has recently inflected due to cloud infrastructure spending. Morgan Stanley increased its price target on WDC stock to 171 from 99 and kept an overweight rating on the shares.
Year-to-date, WDC and STX are up 191% and 193%, respectively: ranking first and second among the index's 2025 winners.
Bio-Techne popped 21% this week, after last Friday's announcement of advancements in its spatial biology portfolio. The new solutions detect RNA and protein biomarkers in tissue, helping researchers and pathologists bridge the gap between research and clinical applications.
Shares on Wednesday rebounded above their 200-day line and broke out from a two-month consolidation. TECH stock is trading at its highest level since March, but down almost 13% so far this year.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase surged 22% this week as crypto prices rallied. Bitcoin has powered to two-month highs back above $120,000 amid the government shutdown, and is closing the gap to its mid-August record above $124,000.
COIN stock on Monday rebounded above its 50-day line. A five-day rally began building what could become the right side of an 11-week consolidation.
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Wilmington, Mass.-based Charles River Labs boasts a 19% gain on the week. Evercore ISI on Friday raised the clinical trial lab's price target to 200 from 190, maintaining an outperform rating.
CRL stock is extended after topping an early buy point at 167.50 on Wednesday. It is working toward a traditional cup-case buy point at 184.17 buy point. Shares are still down 4% so far this year.
Credit ratings leader Fair Isaac spiked nearly 18% on Thursday to shoot back up above its 200-day line. The credit monitoring company on Wednesday said it would make its predictive FICO scores directly available to the credit report vendors that play a key role in mortgage approvals. The move to eliminate reliance on credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion sent those shares plunging.
FICO stock is up 22% this week and trading at early July levels.
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