This week, which stocks lagged or dragged? Weekly Winners column keeps up with market trends, helping Tigers sort out the week's hottest sectors, stock winners and important news.
Below are top 10 S&P 500 stock gainers for the week ended Jan 16:
Moderna Expects $1.9 Billion in Sales, Trims Costs Forecast for 2025
Moderna stock soared about 22% this week. Moderna said on Monday it expects to report around $1.9 billion in sales for 2025, putting it near the upper end of its previously projected $1.6 billion to $2 billion forecast but well below revenue levels achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna Chief Financial Officer James Mock said in an interview that U.S. vaccination rates in the retail sector fell by roughly 26% year-over-year in 2025. That decline, at the lower end of the company's projected 20% to 40% drop, ultimately led to higher sales, he said.
AMD Gets KeyBanc Upgrade as Hyperscaler Demand Accelerates
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. shares rose 14% for the week. On January 13, KeyBanc analyst John Vinh upgraded the stock from Sector Weight to Overweight with a price target of $270.00. Firm analysts see surging hyperscaler demand for AMD, alongside stronger-than-expected server demand, and improving visibility across CPU and AI GPU segments.
Earlier, KeyBanc had downgraded AMD to Sector Weight as it was concerned about a potential demand “air pocket” between MI355 and the launch of its rack-scale Helios platform with MI455, anticipated to ramp into volume about late 2026. However, updated supply chain checks have eased these concerns.
The firm stated how supply chain data has revealed that the recent surge in hyperscaler demand has led to AMD being almost completely sold out of server CPU for 2026. Moreover, it may also potentially consider a price increase of about 10-15% in 1Q26.
KLAC Shares Rise 12% After Morgan Stanley, Bernstein Upgrades
KLA Corporation received an upgrade from Morgan Stanley on Thursday, with its rating raised from Equalweight to Overweight and its price target significantly increased to $1,694.00 from $1,214.00.
Bernstein said the semiconductor capital equipment company is a high quality. “KLA is one of the highest quality companies within Semicap and is the dominant player in Process Control, a $14.3B subsector within the larger $112B global WFE [wafer fab equipment] market in CY24.
Western Digital Price Target Raised to $230 from $190 at Evercore ISI
Western Digital shares rose over 10% for the week. Evercore ISI raised its price target on Western Digital Corp. to $230.00 from $190.00 on Friday, while maintaining an Outperform rating on the stock. Western Digital shares currently trade at $222.36, with a market capitalization of approximately $76 billion.
The firm expects Western Digital to monetize its remaining approximately 5% stake in SanDisk in the coming weeks as the companies approach the one-year anniversary of their separation on February 21, 2025. Western Digital initially retained a 19.9% ownership in SanDisk after the spin-off, representing about 28.8 million shares.
Comments