Trending stocks amid largely steady week for Wall Street

Stocks had a mostly steady week, with some volatility in the middle amid geopolitical tensions. The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) saw gains in four out of five sessions and ended the week 1.7% higher, marking a reversal from the retreat last week.

Wall Street saw a bit of a tumble earlier in the week after Ukraine struck Russia with U.S. missiles. Investors were also focused on focus on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations for his upcoming administration, a rally in bitcoin (BTC-USD) that brought it closer to the $100K mark and AI giant Nvidia’s (NVDA) latest quarterly results.

Amid these developments, the trending stocks of the week included:

MicroStrategy (MSTR) was up around 22% in the week, buoyed by bullish crypto sentiment stemming from Donald Trump’s presidential election win. The shares, which have jumped 85% since the Election Day, were unfazed even after Andrew Left’s Citron Research said in a post on X that it’s betting against the software company.

Alphabet (GOOGL) was in spotlight, after the U.S. Justice Department proposed major changes to search engine Google, including a forced sale of its Chrome web browser. Speculation had grown recently that the DOJ might push for splitting off the browser. Shares dipped 5% over the week, after a late Wednesday filing confirmed the department was seeking the remedy after Google was found to have operated an illegal monopoly in search and search ads in a landmark antitrust trial.

Spirit Airlines (OTC:SAVEQ) filed for bankruptcy protection after incurring years of losses. The beleaguered budget air carrier has commenced a voluntary prearranged bankruptcy proceeding with a debt restructuring agreement already signed by a majority of its bondholders. The airline expects to complete the Chapter 11 process in the first quarter of 2025.

Nvidia (NVDA) reported its fiscal third-quarter results and guidance that topped expectations, highlighting its dominance in the artificial intelligence spending boom. The chipmaker confirmed that Blackwell production is in full swing, with demand expected to exceed supply for several quarters in fiscal 2026.

Walmart (WMT) shares gained 6% following stronger-than-expected Q3 results and upward revisions to its FY2024 guidance.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares rebounded 65% this week after the company hired a new auditor and filed a plan to come into compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.

Snowflake (SNOW) rose 33% after the cloud data storage and analytics company reported positive Q3 results and outlook. The company also announced an acquisition and a new partnership with AI startup Anthropic.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) fell 11% even as the company declared a $3.65 a share special dividend, lifted full-year earnings guidance and reported a healthy third quarter. The container liner shipping company said revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to $2.77B in the quarter, beating the average estimate of $2.41B among Wall Street analysts. The company swung to a profit of $1.13B from a loss of $2.27B a year earlier.

Zeta Global Holdings (ZETA) rose 21% after the company announced plans for company executives and board members to purchase around $3M of its stock. The marketing tech firm also released what it is calling a “detailed” rebuttal in response to the short report from investment firm Culpert Research earlier this month.

Target (TGT) slumped 19% after the retailer reported Q3 results and revised its full-year earnings outlook, both falling short of Wall expectations.

Tesla (TSLA) rose after reports that members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are seeking to ease federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles.