Ten stocks stood firmer on Thursday, as investors loaded portfolios in preparation for first quarter corporate earnings, with optimism supported by the broader market sentiment.
On Wall Street, the three major indices all finished in the green, led by the Nasdaq jumping 0.83 percent, followed by the S&P 500 climbing 0.62 percent, and the Dow Jones growing 0.58 percent.
In this article, we focus on the 10 best-performing stocks on Thursday and detail the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we focused on the companies with a $2 billion market capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.
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10. Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK)
Sandisk climbed to a fresh all-time high on Thursday, as investors gobbled up shares following Bernstein SocGen Group’s 25-percent price target upgrade for its stock while positioning portfolios ahead of its first quarter earnings results.
In intra-day trading, Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) surged to an all-time high of $855 before paring gains to finish the session just up by 9.05 percent at $851.57 apiece.
In a market note, Bernstein raised its price target for Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) to $1,250 from $1,000 previously, while maintaining an “outperform” rating. The figure marked a 47 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.
According to Bernstein, the coverage was based on significantly better-than-expected NAND prices amid the strong demand from the data center push.
In other news, Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) is set to announce its financial and operating highlights for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 after market close on Thursday, April 30. A conference call will be held to discuss the results.
For the said period, Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) is expected to report $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion in revenues, or an implied growth of 159 percent to 182 percent from the $1.7 billion reported in the same quarter a year earlier.
Non-GAAP diluted net income per share is expected to be $12 to $14, or a reversal of the $0.30 loss per share a year earlier.
Gross margin, on the other hand, is projected at 64.9 percent to 66.9 percent.
9. Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ:NBIS)
Nebius extended its winning streak to a 5th consecutive day on Thursday, climbing 9.06 percent to finish at $136.33 apiece after earning an optimistic coverage from Cantor Fitzgerald.
In a market note, the investment firm issued an “overweight” rating and a $129 price target for Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ:NBIS), marking a 3.2 percent upside versus its closing price of $125 on Thursday, prior to the release of its coverage.
The optimism came on the heels of surging data center demand amid the rapid expansion of the artificial intelligence sector.
For its part, Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ:NBIS) is underway with the expansion of its data center portfolio, targeting 3 GW of contracted capacity by the end of the year.
Of the total, a 1 GW scale would come from its data center in Independence, Missouri, while another 310 MW is being developed in Finland. The latter is targeted for full operations next year and is set to be Europe’s largest data center so far.
Apart from the said facilities, Nebius Group NV (NASDAQ:NBIS) also announced plans to build more data centers in Finland for its continued capacity buildout.
Construction aside, the company last month secured a $27 billion deal with Meta Platforms Inc. for the delivery of compute capacity for the latter’s needs.
Of the total amount, $12 billion is set to be delivered over the next five years, to be followed by another $15 billion for another five years.
The deal followed Nebius’ partnership with Nvidia, under which they would jointly develop and deploy next-generation hyperscale cloud for the AI market.
Nvidia also invested $2 billion in Nebius.
8. Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE)
Bloom Energy rallied for a third consecutive day on Thursday, surging 9.10 percent to close at $160.13 apiece, as investors maintained its positive rating for the stock ahead of its earnings report and appointment of a new Finance chief.
Based on its historical reporting dates, Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) is set to release its financial and operating highlights for the first quarter of the year on April 30, 2026.
In its market note, Susquehanna said it remained positive for Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE), despite lowering its price target to $173. Still, the new figure marked an 8 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.
The coverage came ahead of the appointment of Simon Edwards as the new chief finance officer (CFO) on Monday, April 13.
Edwards boasts of nearly two decades of experience scaling technology companies, having been CEO of AI-inference firm, Groq, after initially joining the latter as CFO.
At Groq, Edwards led global financial operations and guided the company through a period of rapid expansion, infrastructure build-out, and its recent licensing agreement with Nvidia Corp.
Apart from Groq, he also held CFO positions at Conga and ServiceMax, as well as CFO for GE Digital.
“Simon brings deep experience across finance and financial operations, along with the discipline, systems thinking and technology leadership needed as Bloom rapidly builds the power platform for the digital economy and beyond,” Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) Chairman and CEO KR Sridhar said.
“His engineering foundation, background in software and experience scaling AI infrastructure will be highly relevant as industries face increasing constraints around power availability. He will further strengthen our accomplished management team. We are pleased to welcome Simon to Bloom,” he added.
7. Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ)
Hertz extended its winning streak to a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, surging 10.05 percent to close at $6.57 apiece as investors placed bets on renewed travel demand amid the easing tensions in the Middle East.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ) rallied alongside its counterpart, Avis Budget Group Inc., after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week truce that helped slash the prices of crude oil by double digits.
Having been disrupted for more than a month, investors expected that travel demand would finally pick up, sparking growth prospects for the car rental sector.
It can be learned that Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ) takes a majority of its customers from leisure and business travelers, which means that any development in the overall travel sector could support the growth of its business.
In other news, Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ) is set to announce the results of its earnings performance for the first quarter of the year before market open on May 7, 2026. A conference call will be held to elaborate on the results.
Prior to the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ) provided an optimistic outlook for the first quarter of the year, with revenues expected to increase by mid-single digits.
It said January revenues alone showed a meaningful improvement year-on-year, with the demand expected to continue in February and March.
“Looking ahead to the rest of the year, the company remains focused on growing the off-airport and mobility business and accelerating revenue growth while staying disciplined on costs,” it said.
6. Ocular Therapeutix Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL)
Ocular Therapeutix rallied for a third straight session on Thursday, jumping 10.45 percent to close at $9.30 apiece, as investors continued to load up portfolios in anticipation of business updates from its participation in several conferences next week.
Chief Scientific Officer Jeffrey Heier and Chief Development Officer Peter Kaiser are set to present in a symposium at the 14th Annual Vit-Buckle Society (VBS) Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, April 11, Ocular Therapeutix Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) said. They are expected to discuss redefining the management of Neovascular AMD.
Likewise, its Chairman, President, and CEO, Pravin Dugel, would present at the Congreso Nacional de Oftalmologia (CNO) 2026 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, next Wednesday, April 15, where he would tackle Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors, as well as the current state of treatments for diabetic retinal disease and neovascular AMD.
Investors expect Ocular Therapeutix Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) to provide updates from its investigational drug, Axpaxli, which is currently being studied in a phase 3 trial for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and diabetic retinal disease, including non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR).
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