Ten stocks boasted high gains on Wednesday, outperforming a mostly lackluster performance in the broader market, thanks to a flurry of strong corporate earnings and upbeat outlooks, among others.
Meanwhile, only the Dow Jones finished in the green among Wall Street’s main indices, jumping 0.53 percent. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both fell by 1.51 percent and $0.51 percent, respectively.
Indices aside, we focus on the 10 top performers on Wednesday and detail the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we focused exclusively on stocks with more than $2 billion in market capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.
The New York Stock Exchange building. Photo by Дмитрий Трепольский on Pexels
10. Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)
Old Dominion extended its winning streak to a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, jumping 9.89 percent to close at $208.54 apiece after receiving a 10 percent price target upgrade for its stock despite a dismal earnings performance last year.
In its market report, Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $209 from $190 previously, while keeping its “overweight” recommendation.
This followed Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ODFL) disappointing earnings performance for both the full year and fourth quarter of 2025, amid a challenging market environment.
In the full-year period, the company said that net income fell by 13.7 percent to $1.02 billion from $1.186 billion in 2024, while net revenues decreased by 5.5 percent to $5.5 billion from $5.8 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
For the fourth quarter alone, the company said net income dropped by 12.8 percent to $229.47 million from $263.14 million in the same period last year. Total revenues dipped by 5.7 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.38 billion year-on-year, dragged by a 10.7 percent decline in less-than-truckload (LTL) tons per day.
Despite weak results, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) announced a 3.6 percent increase in its quarterly dividends this year to $0.29 per share owned. The first round is set to be paid on March 18 to all common shareholders as of March 4.
9. Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)
Graphic Packaging bounced back by 10.31 percent on Wednesday to close at $13.70 apiece as investors appeared to have hunted for bargains after falling to a level that left the stock just 6 percent shy of its 52-week low a day earlier.
This followed the company’s disappointing earnings performance on Tuesday, with both profits and sales declining after navigating a challenging market environment last year.
During the period, net income fell by 32 percent to $444 million from $658 million in 2024, as net sales dipped by 2.3 percent to $8.6 billion from $8.8 billion year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter alone, net income slid by 48 percent to $71 million from $138 million. Net sales, on the other hand, were flat at $2.1 billion.
Net profits for both periods were said to be dented by net charges from non-recurring and special items, as well as amortization.
Meanwhile, lower net sales in the full-year period were dampened by a $150 million negative impact from its disposal of the Augusta, Georgia, bleached paperboard, coupled with lower paperboard price and volume declines, and a $97 million decline in packaging sales.
For the fourth quarter, net sales were dragged by a $32 million decline in sales from packaging operations.
“Consumer affordability created a challenging market for our customers and competitive pressure remains a near-term headwind. As we move into 2026, our priorities are clear: drive operational excellence; deliver exceptional customer service; improve our cost structure; and drive substantial free cash flow to strengthen the balance sheet and return capital to shareholders,” said Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) President and CEO Robbert Rietbroek.
“I have initiated a comprehensive review of our organization structure, operations, and footprint, and a selective review of our portfolio to ensure that our resources are focused where we can create the greatest value for our shareholders,” he noted.
