Ten stocks capped off the trading week boasting strong gains, as investors took heart from a flurry of corporate developments, including dividend distribution and analyst upgrades, among others.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s three major indices all finished in the red, led by the Nasdaq (-0.93 percent), followed by the S&P 500 (-0.61 percent), and the Dow Jones (-0.26 percent).
In this article, we focus on the 10 companies that performed well on Friday and break down the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we only considered the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
10. Ares Management Corp. (NYSE:ARES)
Ares Management rebounded by 5.45 percent on Friday to close at $101.76 apiece, as investors gobbled up shares ahead of the cutoff date to qualify for its upcoming dividend payment, while resorting to bargain-hunting after falling to a new record low the day prior.
Last month, Ares Management Corp. (NYSE:ARES) announced that it would distribute $1.35 dividends per share to all Class A and non-voting common stockholders of record as of Tuesday, March 17. The dividends will be paid on March 31.
Meanwhile, holders of Series B mandatory convertible preferred shares of record as of Sunday, March 15, are set to receive a quarterly dividend of $0.84375 per share on April 1.
Dividends aside, the rally can also be attributed to bargain-hunting after the company on Thursday fell to a new record low of $95.80, having mirrored the bloodbath in the broader market as a result of economic uncertainties from the ongoing Middle East tensions.
Ares Management Corp. is a global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes.
9. NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO)
NIO Inc. rallied for a second day on Friday, jumping 5.59 percent to close at $5.86 after earning a 42 percent price target and rating upgrade from an investment company.
In a market note, HSBC boosted its price target for the stock to $6.80 from $4.80 previously, while also issuing a “buy” recommendation versus “hold” prior.
The coverage followed NIO Inc.’s (NYSE:NIO) highly optimistic outlook this year, coupled with a strong earnings performance in 2025, with net losses narrowing by 33 percent to 14.9 billion yuan from 22.4 billion in 2024. Total revenues also increased by 33 percent to 87.5 billion yuan from 65.7 billion yuan year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter, the company swung to a net profit of 282.7 million yuan from a net loss of $7.1 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. Total revenues surged by 76 percent to 34.6 billion yuan from 19.7 billion yuan year-on-year.
For this year, NIO Inc. announced targets of more-than-doubling revenues by 103.4 to 109.2 percent to a range of 24.482 billion to 25.176 billion yuan.
It also projects total vehicle deliveries to end between 80,000 and 83,000 units, or an implied growth of 90.1 percent to 97.2 percent from the same quarter of 2025.
8. Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE:MUR)
Murphy Oil rallied to a new 52-week high on Friday, as investors snapped up shares after an investment firm upgraded its rating and price target by 21 percent on optimism for its ongoing oil drilling program in Vietnam.
At intra-day trading, the stock soared to a record high of $36.90 before paring gains to finish the session just up by 6.02 percent at $36.81 apiece.
In a market note during the day, Piper Sandler raised Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE:MUR) to “overweight” from “neutral,” and boosted its price target to $41 from $33 previously.
The coverage reflected its optimism that Murphy Oil Corp. would be able to find more oil sources at the Hai Su Vang (HSV) field in the Cuu Long Basin, which could serve as a huge catalyst for the company in the first half of the year.
Murphy Oil Corp. is currently underway with the drilling of the HSV project to measure the field’s size and commercial potential under what it calls the appraisal stage, a necessary step before it can proceed with full commercial operations.
Initial discovery in October last year showed that the HSV project had approximately 370 feet of net oil pay across two reservoirs. During the first appraisal stage, drilling registered 429 feet of net oil pay across the two reservoirs.
Two more appraisal programs, HSV-3x and HSV-4x, are slated for this year.
7. MARA Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)
MARA Holdings grew its share prices by 6.39 percent on Friday to close at $9.32 apiece, mirroring the rebound in Bitcoin prices during the day.
The crypto—which may have lost 18.68 percent of its value year-to-date—was able to bounce back to the $73,000 level during the day before paring gains to trade just around the $71,000 territory as of writing.
Investors also digested a social media post from Strategy Inc. Chairman Michael Saylor late on Thursday, which may have suggested that traders hold on expected upsides.
In his post, Saylor underscored the usual delay “between the time we buy the Bitcoin and the time Bitcoin goes to the moon.”
In other news, MARA Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) announced a dismal earnings performance last year, having incurred a $1.3 billion net loss attributable to shareholders, reversing a $541 million attributable net income in 2024. Revenues, however, increased by 38 percent to $907 million from $656 million year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter alone, MARA Holdings Inc. fell to a net loss attributable to shareholders of $1.7 billion, reversing a $528 million attributable net profit in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenues also dropped by 5.6 percent to $202 million from $214 million year-on-year.
6. Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL)
Sasol soared to an over two-year high on Friday, as investors loaded portfolios after an investment turned bullish for the stock and upgraded its price target by more than 100 percent.
At intra-day trading, Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) soared to a new record high of $11.51 before trimming gains to end the session just up by 6.70 percent at $11.31 apiece.
This followed JPMorgan’s rating upgrade for Sasol Ltd. to “overweight” from “underweight” previously, while issuing a new price target of 209 rand, or a 122 percent boost from 94 rand previously.
The coverage was based on its optimism that Sasol Ltd. would benefit from higher oil prices amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the continuing surge in oil prices due to supply disruptions.
According to JPMorgan, its global commodities unit expects oil production cuts of 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in seven days, and further to 16 million bpd in the next 14 days. The Middle East and North Africa regions have already slashed production of approximately 5.5 million bpd.
Additionally, JPMorgan expects benchmark crude oil prices to jump to $120 per barrel and further to $250 if the Strait of Hormuz—a critical waterway where 20 percent of the global oil supply passes through—closes for six months.
5. Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK)
Sandisk jumped by 6.92 percent on Friday to finish at $661.62 apiece, as investors took advantage of the broader market bloodbath to hunt for bargains in AI stocks.
During the session, Sandisk Corp. rallied alongside its counterparts in the storage sector, namely Micron Technology (5.13 percent), Western Digital (4.25 percent), and Seagate Technology (2.60 percent), among others, backed by strong optimism for the artificial intelligence sector.
The confidence was further boosted by Nvidia Corp.’s ramped-up investments in the industry earlier in the week, having partnered with and invested $2 billion in an AI infrastructure company. Nvidia’s investments are widely watched by the investing community, being the key enabler to the AI boom.
Meanwhile, Sandisk Corp. earlier this year announced a 672-percent expansion in its net income in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, at $803 million versus only $104 million in the same period a year earlier.
Revenues, on the other hand, rose by 61 percent to $3.025 billion from $1.876 billion.
Looking into the third quarter of the fiscal period, Sandisk Corp. expects revenues to be in the range of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion, or an implied expansion of 159 percent to 183 percent from the $1.695 billion reported in the same period a year earlier.
Gross margins are expected to be at 64.9 percent to 66.9 percent.
4. ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)
ImmunityBio surged by 7.29 percent on Friday to finish at $8.39 apiece, as investors took heart from the company’s optimism for the development of the “World Bank of Natural Killer (NK) Cells,” thanks to the success of its two manufacturing engineering programs.
In an updated report, ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) said it successfully completed NK2022 and NK2023 programs, which evaluated that it could safely collect large volumes of immune cells and enrich them into NK cells.
ImmunityBio Inc. said that 64 subjects completed apheresis collection across healthy and cancer patients, while collected cells were stored and used for process development and validation.
Following the study, the firm saw preserved NK cell activity and phenotype in both healthy donors and cancer patients, including those who have undergone therapy.
It noted that NK cells, even from cancer patients, can still attack and kill cancer cells effectively, similar to those from healthy donors.
“These data demonstrate that potent NK cell therapy can be manufactured at scale and administered safely, potentially offering a reliable autologous source of potent NK cells,” ImmunityBio Inc. Executive Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong said.
“The ability to generate up to 5 billion highly pure NK cells from a single apheresis collection, yielding up to 8-10 therapeutic doses within 12 days, opens the possibility of creating the ‘World Bank of Natural Killer Cells’, with NK cells able to be universally donated to any patient without HLA matching,” he added.
3. Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ:GLXY)
Galaxy Digital snapped a two-day losing streak on Friday, jumping 8.34 percent to finish at $22.35 apiece, as investors shifted to its US stocks amid the looming delisting of its Canadian shares, while taking advantage of the broader decline to hunt for bargains.
Earlier this month, Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ:GLXY) announced plans to delist its shares from the Toronto Stock Exchange effective Thursday, March 19, to focus on its listing on Nasdaq, given that the majority of its average daily trading volume is executed on the said US exchange.
The initiative would also help slash its expenses and administrative requirements associated with its dual listing.
Galaxy Digital is not required to seek approval of its shareholders, given that an alternative market is available to trade its Class A common shares.
In relation to the delisting, Galaxy Digital’s share buyback program for its Canadian shares will also be terminated on the delisting date, but repurchase transactions for shares on the Nasdaq would continue on a normal basis and would not exceed 5 percent of the outstanding Class A common stock at any time or within the 12-month period.
2. Klarna Group PLC (NYSE:KLAR)
Klarna Group bounced back by 8.82 percent on Friday to close at $15.91 apiece, as investors mirrored the acquisition of an additional $50 million stake by its chairman, Michael Moritz.
In a regulatory filing, Klarna Group PLC (NYSE:KLAR) said that Moritz acquired more than 3.47 million shares of the company on March 3 to 11, at prices ranging from $13.1791 to $16.1128 apiece. The transactions were made through his family-run foundation, Crankstart.
In other news, Klarna Group plc (NYSE:KLAR) earlier announced a disappointing performance last year, having swung to a net loss of $273 million from a $21 million net income in 2024. Total revenues, however, increased by 25 percent to $3.5 billion from $2.8 billion year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter alone, Klarna Group PLC incurred a $26 million net loss, reversing a $40 million net income in the same period a year earlier. Revenues soared by 38 percent to $1.08 billion from $781 million year-on-year.
Looking into the first quarter of the year, the company announced targets of growing its revenues by 28 to 40 percent to a range of $900 million to $980 million, as well as gross merchandise value by 26 to 30 percent to a range of $32 billion to $33 billion.
1. PayPay Corp. (NASDAQ:PAYP)
PayPay soared by 16.41 percent on Friday to finish at $21.14 apiece, as investor sentiment was fueled by reports that it is considering a dual listing in the future following the success of its US market debut, backed by strong investor appetite.
According to a report by Bloomberg, PayPay Corp. (NASDAQ:PAYP) remains open to listing its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, albeit no specific details have been divulged.
The SoftBank-backed group debuted on the Nasdaq exchange only on Thursday, successfully raising $880 million in fresh funds.
PayPay Corp. successfully sold more than 54.98 million American depositary shares, representing its common shares.
Of the total, more than 31 million shares were offered by the company, while the other 23.9 million shares were sold by its existing shareholder, SVF II Piranha (DE) LLC, an investment fund also controlled by the SoftBank Group.
PayPay Corp. is one of the leading financial technology companies in Japan, having registered 72 million users since it was launched by SoftBank and Yahoo Japan in 2018.
From its initial public offering price of $16 apiece, its second day of trading already saw the company surge by as much 37 percent.
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