The stock market finished mixed on Monday as investors remained cautious over the escalating trade tensions globally, with President Donald Trump threatening to slap China with another 50-percent tariff if the latter does not withdraw a countermeasure.
The Dow Jones declined by 0.91 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped by 0.23 percent. In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up by 0.10 percent.
Meanwhile, 10 companies, predominantly in the Artificial Intelligence sector, bucked an overall market pessimism, posting strong gains during the day.
In this article, we have identified Monday’s top performers and detailed the reasons behind their gains.
To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.
A trader cheers his market gains. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
10. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)
Transocean Ltd. snapped a three-day losing streak on Monday as investors resorted to bargain-hunting to take advantage of its cheap valuation.
The company touched a new 52-week low of $1.97 at intra-day trading before buying persisted throughout the day to push the stock higher at the close.
Generally, investor sentiment in the company was pulled down by global trade war escalations, coupled with Zacks Research’s more pessimistic outlook for its first-quarter earnings performance.
According to the investment firm, it now expects RIG to post $0.01 earnings per share, down from the $0.04 forecast previously. The consensus forecast for the company is currently at $0.14.
Zacks Research also issued estimates for Transocean’s first quarter EPS, at $0.01 in the first quarter of 2026, $0.05 in the second quarter, and $0.21 for the full year 2027 period.
RIG, a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells, stands to largely benefit from the US government’s plan to bolster energy supply to unlock the country’s full energy potential. It secured several contracts in the US Gulf of Mexico, including the Deepwater Conqueror, Atlas, and Asgard.
9. Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)
Upstart Holdings ended a two-day losing streak on Monday, adding 8.56 percent to close at $37.78 apiece as investor funds shifted anew to artificial intelligence stocks to mitigate risks from the escalating global trade tensions.
On the same day, UPST announced that it would release its first quarter performance on May 6, 2025. A copy of its earnings release and presentation will be available on its website after market close.
Founded in 2012, UPST operates as an AI lending marketplace and connects millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage its AI models and cloud applications to deliver credit products.
With Upstart AI’s models, lenders are able to approve more borrowers at lower rates. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small-dollar “relief” loans.
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