What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after renewed enthusiasm for Alphabet reinvigorated the artificial intelligence trade, propelling a market rebound heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The Nasdaq index jumped 2.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, driven by a 5% rally in Alphabet following the announcement of its upgraded Gemini 3 AI model. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector, lifting shares of Broadcom, Micron, and Palantir significantly. The rally built on momentum from the previous trading session, sparked by the New York Fed president keeping the door open for a December interest rate cut.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Professional Staffing & HR Solutions company Alight (NYSE:ALIT) jumped 6.5%. Is now the time to buy Alight? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Enterprise Networking company Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) jumped 11.8%. Is now the time to buy Applied Digital? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) jumped 4.1%. Is now the time to buy Pure Storage? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Digital Media & Content Platforms company WEBTOON (NASDAQ:WBTN) jumped 3.9%. Is now the time to buy WEBTOON? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Hardware & Infrastructure company Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) jumped 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Xerox? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Applied Digital (APLD)
Applied Digital’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 89 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Applied Digital and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock gained 2% on the news that strong results from chipmaker Nvidia, eased lingering concerns about a potential bubble in the artificial intelligence sector.
The tech giant delivered another blockbuster earnings report, with sales, profits, and guidance exceeding Wall Street expectations. CEO Jensen Huang let the data do the talking as he acknowledged the growing sentiment about an AI bubble, while affirming that sales for Nvidia's current-generation GPU, called Blackwell (mostly used for AI applications), are "off the charts." A stronger-than-expected September jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reinforced this bullish sentiment. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 119,000, easily surpassing the consensus estimates of 50,000. While the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% and wage growth slowed slightly, the data suggest the U.S. economy remains on a firm footing. While this resilience made some investors unsure of the Fed's December rate decision, the market welcomed the news, rallying on the strength of a solid economy and a booming tech sector.
Applied Digital is up 210% since the beginning of the year, but at $24.21 per share, it is still trading 35.9% below its 52-week high of $37.76 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Applied Digital’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $355,438.
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