Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 04/08/2025

The markets are having a tough week so far — here are some of the stories we’re focused on: 

• HOT: Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ: CPSS) gains in a tough market; Victoria’s Secret (NYSE: VSCO) shows surprising potential
• NOT: Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) isn’t having a shiny happy IPO; Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) continues to dip

P.S. For more stocks making moves, check out our new Zen Ratings Upgrades & Downgrades screener.

🔥 HOT: Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ: CPSS), a finance company that specializes in auto financing for people with credit issues, gained 7.4% on Friday. While there wasn’t any specific news catalyst, companies like CPSS do well in difficult economic times when more people struggle to qualify for car loans. The stock’s current price is an absolute steal, given its balance sheets and stability, so we give it a Buy recommendation and a B Zen Rating.

🥶 NOT: Shares of Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) plunged along with the rest of the Nasdaq on Friday, losing 21.3% by the closing bell. The stock has lost a whopping 51.4% since its high-water mark on March 17th, and while you might think that makes it a good buy, the reality is that the company’s IPO was too recent to predict how it will deal with a protracted bull market. We give SNDK a C Zen Rating and a Hold recommendation; if you already have some shares, there’s no need to dump them immediately, but we don’t see a compelling argument for picking up any more.

🔥 HOT: Victoria’s Secret (NYSE: VSCO) was one of the only big winners on Friday, gaining 14.0% while the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones all lost between 5% and 6% in a tariff-fueled bloodbath. VSCO was down big before tariffs routed the U.S. markets, but now large investors are swooping in to scoop up shares, seeing the current price as an unbeatable value for a company that turned in solid earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024. We give VSCO an A rating for Value and a B for Safety, with an overall Zen Rating of B.

🥶 NOT: Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) lost another 10.4% on Friday, bringing its total YTD loss to 38.6%. The stock is struggling against the headwinds created by President Trump’s tariffs, but it also has to contend with poor sentiment related to Elon Musk’s DOGE position and the reality of declining deliveries. Tesla reported 336,681 EV deliveries for the first quarter of 2025, down 13% from 2024’s first-quarter deliveries of 386,810. TSLA has always been a volatile stock, but with current market conditions being what they are, we give it a C Zen Rating and a Hold recommendation.

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