Published on 1 Mar 2024 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance
5 Stocks That More Than Doubled in February
U.S. stocks rallied in February, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index recording the best month in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged a four-month winning streak for the first time since May 2021. For the month, the Nasdaq gained 6.1%, while the S&P 500 added 5.2%. The Dow Jones was up 2.1%.The rally was broad-based, with consumer discretionary being the top-performing sector of February. The surge was driven by the wide-ranging appeal of stocks geared toward consumer services. Industrials was the second-best-performing sector, with nearly half of its components in the S&P 500 hitting all-time highs. The addition of Uber Technologies in the Dow Jones Transportation Average buoyed the sector's performance.Here, we have highlighted five stocks that have more than doubled in February. These are Janux Therapeutics Inc. JANX, SoundHound Inc. SOUN, Root Inc. ROOT, Equillium, Inc. EQ and CleanSpark CLSK. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy), or #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The prospects of significant earnings growth, as well as the artificial intelligence boom, led to a strong rally during the month. With 97% of the S&P 500 companies having already reported earnings for the fourth quarter, the S&P 500 is projected to record earnings growth of 4% year over year, per new FactSet data. This marks the second consecutive quarter of earnings growth for the index.In particular, Walmart injected strong optimism as it reported solid earnings, boosted its annual dividend and announced the $2.3 billion takeover of smart TV maker Vizio. This was followed by Nvidia’s blockbuster results, which not only showcased its robust position in the AI chip market but also signaled promising prospects for the semiconductor industry in 2025 and beyond.In the latest data, consumer prices increased at their slowest rate in nearly three years, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.Another major achievement in the last month was Bitcoin’s biggest monthly gain since December 2020. Bitcoin gained 45% to reach $62,000 amid surging optimism. Demand for the token is widening beyond committed digital-asset enthusiasts.
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Best-Performing Stocks