Santa Came Early for These 10 Double-Digit Gainers

Ten stocks kicked off the trading week with whopping double-digit gains, mirroring the broader market rally, on a combination of window-dressing and strong investor confidence.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 led the gains, up 0.64 percent, followed by the Nasdaq, jumping 0.52 percent. The Dow Jones came last, up 0.47 percent.

Indices aside, this article focuses on the 10 top-performing stocks alongside the reasons behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we focused on the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and 5 million shares in trading volume.

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10. IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ rallied for a third straight day on Monday, jumping 11.10 percent to close at $53.86 apiece, on what appeared to be a quarterly and year-end window dressing.

The practice is common among institutional investors, where they tweak portfolios before the reporting periods by loading up on well-performing stocks and trimming those that underperform to present a stronger portfolio to clients.

IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) rallied alongside its quantum computing counterparts despite the lack of industry and company-specific catalysts to bolster buying appetite, supported by bullish ratings and price targets from analysts.

Late last week, investment firm Jefferies issued a “buy” recommendation on shares of IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) with a price target of $100. The figure marked an 86 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.

According to the investment firm, its outlook reflected IonQ Inc.’s (NYSE:IONQ) trapped-ion infrastructure, which differentiates the company through superior coherence, fidelity, and native all-to-all connectivity capabilities in the industry.

The price target, on the other hand, reflected Jefferies’ discounted 2030 revenue projections, representing approximately 60x enterprise value to sales.

It said it expects further upside potential for the company as it executes its strategy, expands partnerships, and continues to develop the quantum ecosystem.

Another analyst, Wedbush, also gave IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) an outperform rating with a $60 price target, or an 11.4 percent upside from its latest closing price.

9. Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR)

Intuitive Machines extended its winning streak to a third straight day on Monday, jumping 11.71 percent to finish at $16.69 apiece as investors took heart from an investment firm’s “buy” recommendation for its stock.

In its initial coverage of the stock late last week, KeyBanc told investors to load up on shares of Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR), at a price target of $14.94, over the latter’s leadership in the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and expectations of robust opportunities for lunar services in the space sector.

The price target marked a 19.8 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.

In other news, Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) earlier this month said that it entered into a strategic cooperation with Leonardo, an aerospace, defense, and security company, as well as Telespazio, a European space services firm, for the advancement of interoperable infrastructures and communications and navigation services in support of lunar exploration.

Under the agreement, the three firms would join forces to establish a framework to promote and enhance interoperability between their respective infrastructures: the Lunar Communication and Navigation System developed by Telespazio as part of the European Space Agency’s Moonlight program, and Intuitive Machines’ Space Data Network, which is used to manage NASA’s Near Space Network Services program.