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.
Photo by George Morina on Pexels
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.
8. Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT)
Quantum Computing extended its gains to a third day on Monday, climbing 12.86 percent to finish at $12.29 apiece, on what appeared to be an early 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.
Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) rallied alongside its counterparts, namely IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave, supported by optimism for robust opportunities for the sector.
In other news, Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) recently acquired Luminar Semiconductor, Inc. (LSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Luminar Technologies, Inc., for $110 million.
According to Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT), the acquisition would bring the company a portfolio of core photonic technologies, patents, and a highly experienced team of engineers and scientists that would accelerate its roadmap while continuing to support and grow LSI’s established customer base.
Concurrent with the announcement, LSI’s parent, Luminar Technologies Inc., announced that it has voluntarily submitted a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT), however, clarified that its acquired company is not a debtor in Luminar’s chapter 11 cases, but would still require the approval of the said court in connection with the acquisition.
7. Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)
Rigetti Computing saw its share prices jump by 13.13 percent on Monday to close at $26.88 apiece, mimicking a broader market rally, supported by the quarterly and year-end window-dressing.
The practice is common among institutional investors, who tweak their portfolios ahead of the reporting periods by piling into strong performers and cutting exposure to laggards to present a more robust-looking portfolio to clients.
Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) climbed alongside its peers, namely Quantum Computing Inc., D-Wave Quantum, and IonQ, amid the broader optimism for the sector.
In other news, Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) last week received an “outperform” rating and a $35 price target from Wedbush. Even with its three consecutive days of gains, the price target still marked a 30.2 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.
According to Wedbush, the coverage reflected the quantum computing firm’s decades of experience in the industry’s research and development, positioning itself as a leader in the superconducting qubit technology.
Additionally, it said that Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) is expected to benefit from an expected growth in the quantum hardware addressable market in the long run.
6. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)
AST SpaceMobile extended its winning streak to a third straight day on Monday, jumping 14.03 percent to finish at $86.48 apiece as investors continued to place bets on the successful launch of its next-generation satellite.
After being rescheduled twice, the Indian Space Research Organisation said that it would officially launch AST SpaceMobile, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ASTS) BlueBird 6 satellite on Christmas Eve, December 24, which is Tuesday, 10:24 PM EST.
The said launch would mark the first of AST SpaceMobile, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ASTS) six planned launches until March 2026.
As compared with the BlueBirds 1 to 5, the 6th generation features the largest commercial phased array in low Earth orbit at nearly 2,400 square feet.
It is also nearly four times bigger than the previous generations and supports 10 times the data capacity.
The December 24 launch targets to enable ubiquitous cellular broadband coverage from space directly to mobile phones.
According to AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS), it would ramp up the production of its BlueBird 6 satellites, with planned manufacturing expansion in its Florida and Texas facilities.
5. Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT)
Hut 8 rallied for a second day on Monday, soaring 14.21 percent to finish at $50.39 apiece after receiving bullish coverage and a higher price target from an investment firm.
In a market note, investment firm Benchmark issued a “buy” recommendation on shares of Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT), and raised its price target by 8.9 percent to $85 from $78 previously. The new figure marked a 69 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.
According to Benchmark, the upgrade was based on Hut 8 Corp.’s (NASDAQ:HUT) newly signed $7-billion data center deal, which the investment firm believed would support the company’s transformation to AI and high-performance computing servicing from being a crypto-focused company at present.
“The transaction combined superior deal economics relative to peer deals, long-dated, investment-grade-backstopped cash flows, and multiple layers of embedded expansion optionality across three counterparties—Anthropic, Fluidstack, and Google,” Benchmark said.
Additionally, Benchmark said that it expects Hut 8 Corp.’s (NASDAQ:HUT) cash flow and power demand for its 245 MW River Bend data center campus to be at $7.6 billion.
4. Firefly Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY)
Firefly Aerospace soared for a third consecutive day on Monday, jumping 16.02 percent to close at $28.60 apiece after officially joining the Russell 2000 Index.
The company was among the 18 firms added to the benchmark, which also triggered its inclusion in the Russell 3000 index. The recomposition officially took effect on the same day.
Companies added to indices typically see their share prices rocket as fund managers and investment firms that track the index rebalance their portfolios by buying the newly included stocks while selling shares of companies removed from the benchmark.
Firefly Aerospace Inc.’s (NASDAQ:FLY) inclusion in the said indices is expected to open doors for greater exposure among institutional and foreign investors.
Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors as benchmarks for investment strategies. The market capitalization-based indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a global index provider that offers a broad range of market indexes to measure the performance of different segments of the global financial markets.
In other news, Firefly Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY) last week received a “sector weight” rating from investment firm KeyBanc, on optimism for the company’s spacecraft operations, albeit achieving profitability could take some time.
KeyBanc noted that Firefly Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY) remains in the process of establishing a consistent launch track record, but noted that it was already making strides with the medium-lift rocket.
3. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum soared for a third straight day on Monday, jumping 20.02 percent to close at $32.19 apiece as investors loaded portfolios ahead of expected business updates from a conference early next month.
In a statement, D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) said that it would participate in the CES 2026, a two-day event at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas on January 7 and 8, 2026.
The conference aims to tackle issues and updates about how the artificial industry, quantum computing, and blockchain are shaping the next era of technological innovation.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS), for its part, said that it would showcase its award-winning annealing quantum computing technology, hybrid quantum-classical solvers, and real-world customer use cases that are demonstrating measurable performance benefits, often beyond classical computing alone.
Meanwhile, D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) Vice President for Quantum Technology Evangelism Murray Thom would also present a masterclass and demo, educating attendees about how to realize value from quantum computing today.
In other news, D-Wave Quantum Inc.’s rally (NYSE:QBTS) may have also been buoyed by the quarterly and year-end window-dressing—a practice 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.
2. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)
Applied Optoelectronics jumped for a third day on Monday, soaring 24.82 percent to close at $39.10 apiece as investors continued to load up on shares following its unveiling of a new pump laser designed to meet the growing needs of AI.
In a statement late last week, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) announced the new 400-milliwatt narrow-line-width pump laser, a new product designed to meet growing demand for silicon photonics and co-packaged optics (CPO) in AI data centers.
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) said that the laser addresses situations where lasers with broader line width or higher noise figures limit performance.
It can source directly into semiconductor chip-scale systems to provide hyperscalers with a robust, high-performance light source for CPO, silicon photonics, and other applications that demand precision and power from a single, stable wavelength.
400mW laser-powered chips can also serve as high-efficiency external sources that can provide the necessary pump power to feed multiple optical communication channels.
“With this new technology, we are raising the bar on laser power, coherence, and stability to offer customers the ideal solution for unlocking scalable optical I/O, simplifying system design, and accelerating the industry’s transition to co-packaged optics at 800G and beyond,” said Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Senior Vice President and North American General Manager Fred Chang.
1. Hycroft Mining Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:HYMC)
Hycroft Mining soared to a new four-year high on Monday, climbing 49.33 percent to close at $24.52 apiece as investors cheered announcements that it had found the best grades of silver at its mining site in Nevada.
In intra-day trading, the stock surged to its highest price of $26.25 before trimming gains to finish the session just up by 49.33 percent at $24.52 apiece.
In an updated report, Hycroft Mining Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:HYMC) said that the highest grades of silver were identified in the Vortex Silver System, and that results show continuity of resources.
Additionally, the mineralized area is still open in all directions, suggesting that there is a strong chance that more resources can still be found with further drilling.
“Our 2025-2026 exploration strategy is focused on unlocking the full scale of the Vortex and Brimstone high-grade silver systems through both lateral and depth expansion—these latest impressive results clearly demonstrate there is much more potential to both systems,” said Hycroft Mining Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:HYMC) President and CEO Diane Garrett.
“With these results and many more expected to come, we are at the very beginning of a pivotal growth phase. While we don’t typically issue results on single drill holes, these recent two holes in Vortex, when viewed together, represent something extremely significant occurring,” she added.
While we acknowledge the potential of HYMC to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HYMC and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge fund investor letters by entering your email below.
