Wall Street experienced a turbulent week, with certain stocks outperforming others. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) concluded the week with a 1.43% increase, while the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) added 4.4%. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) slightly declined by 0.15%.
This mixed performance can be attributed to investors’ concerns about a potential banking sector crisis. Following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ:SIVB) and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY), financial stocks, particularly regional banks, suffered significant losses. Additionally, signs of instability at Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) and First Republic (NYSE:FRC) led to share drops of 6.9% and 32.8% on Friday, respectively.
CNBC Pro used FactSet data to identify the week’s top gainers as of Friday morning and analyzed analysts’ future expectations. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) emerged as one of the biggest S&P 500 winners this week, with a 13.3% rally. Microsoft shares are close to analysts’ average price target for the next 12 months, with around a 1% upside. Almost 70% of analysts covering the stock rate it a buy.
Chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) also performed well this week but might be getting ahead of themselves. AMD, the biggest gainer among S&P 500 stocks, increased by 17.8% week-to-date, marking its best week since 2020. However, shares are already more than 5% higher than their average price target.
Nvidia shares have also surpassed their average price target, but Morgan Stanley upgraded them to overweight from equal weight on Thursday, pointing to artificial intelligence developments as drivers of growth. The firm raised its price target on shares to $304 from $255, implying a 19% upside from Thursday’s close. Meta (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were also among this week’s top gainers, with increases of 12% and 13%, respectively.
Analysts predict a 22.2% upside for Alphabet’s stock. UBS maintained its buy rating for Alphabet shares, considering the cost risk associated with integrating generative AI into Google search results as manageable. Health-care companies Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) and Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) also outperformed the market this week. Illumina shares rose by 15.3% week-to-date as billionaire activist Carl Icahn prepared for a proxy fight at the company. Icahn contends that Illumina’s acquisition of GRAIL in August 2021 cost its shareholders approximately $50 billion.
Although analysts have mixed opinions on Illumina, with only 34.8% rating it a buy, shares are expected to gain over 5% in the next 12 months.
