Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Stocktwits Top 25 Newsletter for Week 12 in 2021.
The Stocktwits Top 25 reports the 25 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 year to date (YTD), and tracks their performances over time.
Here are your Stocktwits Top 25 Lists for Week 12:
ST Top 25 S&P 500
The ST Top 25 S&P 500 bounced back in Week 12. 16 names closed higher.
Marathon Oil Corp. jumped two spots from #3 to #1. $MRO edged out $LB for the top spot.
Nucor popped 11% and claimed the #6 spot on the list as a Freshman. See more below.
Applied Materials ascended 12% and closed at an all-time high. The semiconductor is Week 12’s Top Dawg!
9 Freshmen appeared on the list. Notable names include; Applied Materials, Deere & Co, and ConocoPhillips.
The Stocktwits Top 25 S&P 500 Momentum Meter gained 1.08% while the S&P 500 rose 1.57%. The 0.49% differential indicates top stocks performed a tad worse than the full index.
The Big Cap Nasdaq 100
The ST Top 25 N100 List was the strongest performing list in Week 12. Similar to the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List, 16/25 names closed green.
$ASML made the list’s biggest move, climbing 14.3% and 15 spots higher. It’s now ranked #6.
Trip.com Group was the weakest name on the list, falling 3.4% and moving from #5 to #8. Travel agency competitor, Expedia, doubled its ranking from #4 to #2.
$FOXA flopped 12%, $CSCO climbed 7.33%, and $LRCX leapt 7.7%.
6 new names made the list.
The ST Top 25 Nasdaq 100 Momentum Meter eased 2.13% higher in Week 12 while the full Nasdaq 100 gained 0.87%. The 1.26% differential suggests the top stocks performed much stronger than the index.
Small-Cap Russell 2000
The ST Top 25 Russell 2000 had a change of momentum. Names near the top flopped, while fresh faces appeared near the bottom. 16/25 names closed lower.
Prothena Corp popped 10.4% as a Freshman. The #17th ranked biotech is up 124% YTD. Read more below.
$SAVA sucked it up as a Sinner in Week 12. The biotech fell after reporting earnings on Tuesday.
$AMC descended 26.5%, $ZEUS zoomed 8.4%, and $EOLS lost 15%.
The top 5 stocks remained the same.
The ST Top 25 R2K Momentum Meter lost 5.36% while the Russell 2000 index erased 2.89%. The 2.47% differential shows the top stocks were far weaker than the full index.
ST Top 25 TOP DAWG OF THE WEEK 🐶
The ST Top 25 Top Dawg for Week 12, 2021 is #7 S&P 500 – Applied Materials.
Applied Materials’ 12% weekly gain got the job done. $AMAT ascended 12% to close at all-time highs, claiming the #7 spot on the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List.
It’s no surprise that $AMAT belongs to one of the hottest groups on the market, the chip-equipment group. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF $SMH ripped 3.4% this week thanks to strength in names like $ASML, $LRCX, $KLAC, and $AMAT.
Applied Materials announced that the amended Kokusai Electric Corporation share purchase agreement with KKR HKE Investment L.P. may have terminated in accordance with its terms on March 19, 2021 after the parties were unable to confirm timely regulatory approval in China.
$AMAT also approved a new $7.5 billion stock buyback authorization, supplementing the previous authorization which has approximately $1.3 billion remaining.
Keep your eyes on this one moving forward 👀 $AMAT is up 49% YTD.
The Winners 📈
△ #6 S&P 500 – Nucor Corp was the second-largest gainer on the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List this week, up 11.2%. The steel company is now ranked #6 as a Freshman. An impressive ranking in a young one’s debut. 👏
$NUE, America’s leading steel provider signed a 10-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with Ørsted Onshore North America, LLC on Wednesday. The partnership adds 100 megawatts of wind power from Ørsted’s Western Trail wind farm in N. Texas.
Leon Topalian, CEO of Nucor Corporation said:
As an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaker and North America’s largest recycler, Nucor is already among the cleanest and most sustainable steel producers in the world. This agreement will enable us to further reduce our climate footprint beyond our operations.
Just a day later, Nucor announced it will build its new tube mill on site of its Nucor Steel Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky.
The location provides the company with opportunities to capitalize on its investments by expanding the mill’s capacity and add a galvanizing line.
The $164 million investment project is expected to be up and running by mid-2023. The project will create 70+ new full-time jobs too 💪
$NUE is up 49.10% YTD.
△ #14 N100 – Cisco Systems closed green for the fourth consecutive week. The networking hardware company spiked 7% and closed at a 2-year high. $CSCO is a Freshman on the ST Top 25 N100 List ranked #14.
Corporate customers of Cisco Systems will be spending more on networking gear as employees return to offices as the coronavirus mollifies. $CSCO traded higher Thursday after Goldman Sachs upgraded the networking gear maker and set a 12-month price target of $59.
Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall said:
We upgrade our rating on Cisco to a buy as the prospect of increased enterprise spending on campus networking to enable a video-conferencing-heavy return to offices presents opportunity for fundamental upside.
$CSCO is now up 17.5% YTD.
△ #17 R2K – Prothena Corp popped off for the third straight week. The late stage biotech company moved 10.4% higher to close at 3-year highs in Week 12. This Freshman entered the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List ranked #17.
$PRTA announced Wednesday that it priced an underwritten public offering of 3,500,000 of its ordinary shares at a price to the public of $20.75.
The stock ripped 17% after the news Wednesday and closed up another 11.20% Thursday.
△ #6 N100 – ASML Holding ascended 14.3% this week as the ST Top 25 N100’s biggest winner. The semiconductor company is off to an impressive 2021 campaign after tearing it up in 2020. $ASML is +28.30% YTD.
After closing positive Monday and chopping around mid-week, $ASML stock blasted 7.1% on Friday and closed at an all-time high. The stock found resistance at the $600-level in mid-February but had no problem clearing it this week.
Will we see $700 soon? Place your bets…
The Sinners 📉
▼ S&P 500 – ViacomCBS had such a poor week it’s off the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List entirely. The mass media company traded at over $100 Monday but was worth just $48 on Friday. Seven weeks’ worth of gains, or half its value, gone in the blink of an eye.
$VIAC shares took a tumble earlier this week after the company announced a $3 billion share offering. The stock was then downgraded to underweight from equal weight by Wells Fargo.
Here’s the ugly weekly chart:
This one might take some time to heal… Will we see $VIAC return to the ST Top 25 S&P 500 List in 2021? Place your bets…
▼ #2 R2K – Cassava Sciences sold off 4 of 5 days this week. The biotech lost 19.4% but still sits in 2nd place on the ST Top 25 List. $SAVA trails $GME by 278%.
$SAVA reported full-year 2020 earnings on Tuesday. Read the full report here.
Remi Barbier, CEO of Cassava Sciences said:
In Q1 2021 we announced that our lead drug candidate, simufilam, improved cognition scores in 50 patients with Alzheimer’s disease who completed at least 6 months of open-label treatment. In mid-2021, we look forward to announcing cognition scores in patients who’ll have completed at least 12 months of open-label treatment with simufilam. To our knowledge, no drug has stabilized, much less improved, cognition scores over 12 months in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Cassava Sciences remains on-track to initiate two pivotal Phase 3 studies in the second half of 2021. In mid-year 2021, the company plans to initiate a randomized, placebo-controlled cognition maintenance study in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
