Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 04/18/2025

Looking for a good story? Here’s what’s trending in the market right now — in both directions. 

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

🔥 HOT: Penumbra Inc (NYSE: PEN) gained 2.1% on Wednesday, putting it firmly ahead of most of the market. Penumbra reports earnings next Wednesday, and enthusiasm is growing as several major ratings firms reaffirm their buy ratings and maintain or lift their price targets for the stock. Our analysis ranks PEN 13th out of 104 in the medical device industry, with impressive B ratings in Growth, Safety, and Financials. If you can stomach a little earnings volatility, we give PEN a Zen Rating of B and a Buy recommendation.

🥶 NOT: Shares of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) fell by 9.0% on Wednesday after the company missed its projected earnings by 2.25%. Brokerage firms like IBKR are also on the decline due to fears of decreased trading activity in the looming bear market. Cautious investors mean lower commissions for brokers like Interactive Brokers as more people wait out the turbulence on the sidelines. Up until Tuesday’s poor earnings report, IBKR was doing well given the current volatility and had momentum on its side. We give the stock a C Zen Rating and recommend holding your current position for now.

🔥 HOT: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was one of the few stocks in the green on Wednesday after it beat its earnings projections by 1.7%. Perhaps even more impressive than that, Abbott’s CEO, Robert Ford, confirmed the company's previous guidance of between $1.23 and $1.27 per share for the upcoming quarter. The numbers themselves aren’t impressive; rather, the fact that the company issued guidance at all marks a departure from the recent trend of declining to issue guidance due to the unpredictable economic climate surrounding the U.S.-China trade war. We like ABT due to its excellent Safety rating of A and solid B rating in Financials. It’s hard to recommend many stocks these days, but we give ABT a B Zen Rating and a Buy recommendation.

🥶 NOT: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) took one on the chin on Wednesday as the Trump administration banned exports of the company’s H20 AI chip to China. The moratorium on exports triggered a 6.9% drop in the company’s share price and will cost Nvidia an estimated $5.5 billion. Nvidia remains solid financially despite its YTD loss of 23.2% and the increased uncertainty surrounding tariffs, and it still sets the bar for AI hardware. Our research gives NVDA a C Zen Rating and a Hold recommendation. The company gets a shining A rating in Financials, but its future is too uncertain at the moment to warrant an A or B rating.

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