Not for the first time this year, Nano Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) stock was going somewhat nuclear over the past few trading sessions.

On news that a Senate committee desires changes in President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" that favor the once-struggling industry, interest rose sharply in nuclear stocks. Nano was a direct beneficiary of this; according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, its share price had ballooned by nearly 25% week to date as of Friday before market open.

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Credit where credit is due

The bill is an ambitious budget reconciliation proposal that would reshape the federal budget. Early in the week, one new change floated by the Senate Finance Committee was an adjustment of the tax credits the feds provide to energy producers.

Some power-generation technologies currently out of favor with the present administration would have their tax credit expiration dates brought forward, while others would be granted extensions. Happily for Nano investors, nuclear energy is in the latter category.

The committee is proposing that nuclear's energy production tax credit, currently set to be phased out on Dec. 31, 2032, have a new expiration date of Dec. 31, 2036.

The president has been active in his support for nuclear power, which in the recent past was largely shunned. Its reputational decline was due mostly to high-profile accidents such as the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, and the catastrophic 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl plant located in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).

More compromise in store?

Despite its very positive-sounding name, the "Big, Beautiful Bill" is controversial and contentious among both legislators and the U.S. public.

Given that, it's very possible that it will be hammered out through more compromises -- and these might lead lawmakers to rescind the nuclear tax credit extension idea. Still, the proposal currently on the table at least indicates continued strong, top-level support for nuclear power, and that can only help companies like Nano.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nano Nuclear Energy right now?

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For the second week in a row, next-generation plastic recycling specialist PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ: PCT) was quite the hit on the stock exchange.

Thanks to a successful round of capital raising and a bullish analyst note on its prospects, the company's shares were trading nearly 21% higher week to date early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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$300 million worth of good news

PureCycle has managed to raise $300 million in fresh capital commitments from a mix of former and new investors. It did so via a flotation of convertible preferred shares.

With these funds coming to its coffers, the company also announced that it aims to bring 1 billion pounds of installed recycling capacity onstream by 2030. That $300 million will help it expand its current operations in Augusta, Georgia, and build new facilities overseas in Asia (specifically Thailand) and Europe (Belgium).

In its press release on the matter, PureCycle quoted CEO Dustin Olson: "Over the last several years, we have continued to invest time and resources in progressing our global growth plans and this capital will allow us to execute on those plans."

Still a buy, maintains analyst

Meanwhile, also over the past few days, an analyst covering PureCycle stock felt compelled to publish a bullish note on the company (this occurred on Monday, so it didn't address the convertible preferred stock issue).

In his new PureCycle note, Cantor Fitzgerald's Andrew Sheppard reiterated his overweight (i.e., buy) recommendation on the stock and his $12-per-share price target. According to reports, he cited the company's early-mover advantage in its niche, its exclusive technology, and what he considers its large addressable market as key factors in his rating.

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According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) stock's price was floating almost 11% higher week to date on early Friday morning. Investors were mainly reacting to news the tech infrastructure company reported about a new business tie-up with an Asian peer.

A cross-Pacific Ocean partnership

On Monday, Astera and Taiwanese chipmaker AIChip Technologies announced in a joint press release that they have formed a strategic business partnership.

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Together, the two will aim to exploit opportunities afforded by sky-high demand for artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities. AIChip, which specializes in application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, and Astera are teaming up to offer "validated, interoperable solutions for hyperscalers building next-generation AI infrastructure," according to the press release.

As the name suggests, a hyperscaler is essentially an extremely large data center. These are in vogue now due to the heavy resource requirements of AI.

Aiming to reap a bundle from AI

Astera and AIChip offered almost no details about their new partnership, including its financial parameters. Given that, it's tough to gauge how this collaboration might affect their fundamentals.

Judging by the market's reaction, though, investors don't seem to mind -- teaming up on projects has clear potential to benefit both companies. I think AI companies like Astera are in the midst of a gold rush. I'd absolutely consider buying the stock.

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Data center connectivity solutions company Credo Technology (NASDAQ: CRDO) won attention from many stock market participants this week, thanks in no small part to an analyst flagging it as a top pick in the small and mid-cap categories.

With this pleasant tailwind at its back, Credo's share price was a robust 16%-plus higher as of late Thursday night, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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A bull gets more bullish

The pundit behind the price target boost was TD Cowen's Joshua Buchalter, who on Wednesday upped his fair value assessment on Credo stock to $95 per share; previously he had tagged it as potentially being worth $85. In making the change he left his buy rating intact.

Not only that; according to reports, Buchalter and TD Cowen now consider Credo his company's best small- or mid-cap idea for 2025. That's meaningful, given the many stocks in those two categories.

In his Credo update, the analyst was particularly enthusiastic about the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) demand on Credo's business. Many companies are racing to enhance their products and services with AI functionalities, and data centers must upgrade to handle the huge resource needs of the technology.

Full steam ahead

It hasn't escaped Buchalter's notice that Credo is also a high-growth and high-margin company, and it's entirely possible that management will be able to maintain (or even exceed) the torrid growth it has shown of late. This company's stock is a fine buy on the continued rise of AI, and the prognosticator's optimism is justified.

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The past few trading days haven't been kind to solar energy stocks, and Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) has been caught in the rout.

Developments in the legislative sphere kicked off the downturn, which was compounded in Enphase's case by several downbeat analyst notes. As of late Thursday, the company's share price was down more than 20% week to date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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No credit?

Enphase stock took a serious hit on Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee floated the idea of more aggressive cuts to the tax credits currently in place for implementing green energy solutions. These would be made in order to get President Trump's pet Big, Beautiful Bill passed in that chamber. Specifically, the committee recommended phasing the credits out completely by 2028, instead of the current deadline of 2032.

As Enphase came to prominence with one crucial solar component -- its micro-inverter that transforms the direct current (DC) electricity generated by solar panels to the alternating current (AC) used in households -- it stands to be directly affected by such a drastic change.

That development was worrying to many Enphase investors and observers, a group that includes analysts tracking the stock. Several pundits became more notably bearish on Enphase's future, with one going so far as to downgrade her recommendation on the solar stock.

A dimmer view

That analyst is KeyBanc's Sophie Karp, who cut her Enphase recommendation to underweight (sell, in other words) from her previous sector weight (hold) and assigned a price target of $31 per share. Not surprisingly, Karp's new take was based largely on the Senate's move, according to reports.

While tax credits are not the be-all and end-all of the solar business, it is a sector that continues to struggle with myriad negative factors (high costs, significant competition, etc.). So this pull-the-rug proposal won't do it any favors at all. I'd be extremely wary of Enphase and its peers right now.

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A badly received quarterly earnings report was the major news item exerting gravity on Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) stock over the past few days. As a result, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the company's share price had slumped by almost 15% week-to-date as of Thursday evening.

Investors didn't like the latest milk bone

That sell-off happened even though Chewy actually topped analyst estimates for revenue and profitability, albeit not by vast amounts.

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In its first quarter, the company managed to grow its net sales by more than 8% year over year to $3.1 billion, while its non-GAAP (adjusted) net income improved at a slightly higher rate to just under $149 million ($0.35 per share). Analysts had collectively been modeling a bit below $3.1 billion on the top line and $0.32 per share for adjusted profitability.

While those aren't bad numbers at first glance, Chewy is an expensive stock to own; even after the post-earnings sell-off it was trading at a rich forward P/E of almost 36. For more than a few investors, that's awfully pricey for a company posting single-digit percentage improvements, and at thin profit margins to boot.

Tepid reactions

Meanwhile, as analysts tracking a stock often do, several pundits following Chewy adjusted their takes on the stock. Most of these adjusters raised their price targets, but there were several less bullish updates, too. One was published by Mizuho's David Bellinger, who now feels Chewy is worth $44 per share, down from his previous $47. He maintained his neutral recommendation on the stock.

It's hard to ignore how pricey this stock is at the moment, and to some degree that's a shame. Chewy has been posting good results from its Autoship program lately, a feature that still has plenty of potential to boost valuable recurring revenue. I'm not necessarily hot on this stock, but there might be some upside to it if it can post more convincing quarterly earnings beats.

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As of Friday morning before market open, for the most part stocks weren't having a bad week. As always there were exceptions, however, and one of the unfortunate outliers was software development solutions provider GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB).

On the back of a quarterly earnings report that disappointed the market, plus subsequent analyst price target cuts and even a recommendation downgrade, the company's share price sagged. As of early Friday morning, the stock had declined by more than 10% week to date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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A forgettable first quarter?

This, despite the fact that GitLab actually posted healthy growth rates in its first quarter. Total revenue rose by almost 27% year over year to $214.5 million, while non-GAAP (adjusted) net income increased more than sixfold to $29.4 million. Both figures topped the average analyst estimates, although not spectacularly.

Investors like to concentrate on their view of the road ahead, rather than the numbers behind, so it was GitLab's guidance that had a more profound effect on sentiment.

The company's outlook for its current (second) quarter is for $226 million to $227 million in revenue, filtering down into per-share earnings of $0.16 to $0.17. While the analyst earnings estimate falls within the company's range, that for revenue is just above management expectations.

Goldman gets more bearish

And what was discouraging to investors was also dismaying to quite a few analysts tracking GitLab. A clutch of them reduced their price targets on the stock with one -- white-shoe investment bank Goldman Sachs -- even pulling the lever on a recommendation downgrade. Goldman's Kash Rangan now feels the stock is only a neutral, down from his previous buy, at a price target of $50 per share.

I feel investors and pundits alike are overreacting to the quarterly results. While GitLab's revenue growth is declining, it's still turning in very profitable results and it operates a useful service. I think GitLab is therefore worth a look as something of a bargain play in its niche.

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Before you buy stock in GitLab, consider this:

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends GitLab and Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The nuclear energy sector has been a winner across the very recent past, following Wednesday's news that an important company in the industry had been tapped for an upcoming government project.

Centrus Energy (NYSEMKT: LEU) wasn't that company, but it's a key supplier to the enterprise that's at the heart of the project. Additionally, Centrus was the subject of a bullish new analyst note. With these tailwinds at its back the company's share price had heated up by nearly 11% week to date as of early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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The right supplier at the right time

The company bagging the contract was Centrus' business partner, next-generation nuclear energy specialist Oklo, which is on tap to build and operate one of its facilities to power Eielson Air Force base in Alaska.

That's also a win for Centrus, as it is a supplier of the high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) that will fuel Oklo's powerhouse. The two companies have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in place for the supply of the fuel.

While most of the investor excitement following the project's announcement was directed at Oklo, Centrus also received a boost due to the relationship with its peer. Additionally, becoming a crucial supplier to a branch of the military will greatly help boost Centrus' status as a go-to nuclear energy supplier.

A good start to the week

Even before Oklo's news hit the headlines, Centrus was already on a bullish path. On Monday, Evercore ISI analyst Nicholas Amicucci reiterated his outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation on the stock, and his $145-per-share price target. As of press time, there was no word on whether the pundit had updated his take on Centrus following the Oklo development.

Nuclear energy is enjoying quite the sudden revival in the U.S. and as long as it follows an upward trajectory, Centrus is sure to benefit from it. This is undoubtedly a stock to watch.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Over the past few days, investors have clearly liked what they see on Uxin's (NASDAQ: UXIN) lot. The Chinese operator of used-car dealerships saw its share price accelerate 7% higher week to date as of early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, thanks mainly to an inspiring quarterly earnings report.

Notable improvements in first-quarter fundamentals

The market was cheered by Uxin's first-quarter performance, not least because the auto retailer posted some impressive year-over-year improvements.

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This was led by its revenue, which climbed a very robust 58% year over year to slightly over 504 million yuan ($70 million). That was due in no small part to a more than doubling in Uxin's total number of vehicles sold, which was 8,264 for the period.

The bottom-line result was also satisfying. According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards, Uxin managed to narrow its net loss considerably, to 51.4 million yuan ($7.2 million) from the year-ago deficit of 142.7 million yuan ($19.9 million).

One factor that helped Uxin's fundamentals greatly was its opening of an automobile superstore in the city of Wuhan; this important new outlet for the company began "moving the metal" during the quarter.

More of the same expected

Uxin also proffered very selected guidance for its current (second) quarter, forecasting that the retail transactions that form the great bulk of its sales would come in between 10,000 and 10,500 units (against first-quarter retail sales of 7,545). Total revenue should amount to 630 million yuan ($87.7 million) to 660 million yuan ($91.8 million).

Even at the low end of those ranges, Uxin is set to post significant quarter-over-quarter gains. China's economy could therefore be more robust than its recent reputation might suggest; car sales tend to reflect the general state of a country's financial health.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

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Like a well-hit golf ball sailing through the air toward its destination, Topgolf Callaway Brands (NYSE: MODG) stock was vaulting higher in price this week.

According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence the sporting goods company's shares were up by nearly 23% in price week to date as of early Friday morning, thanks in no small part to a series of insider stock buys. The announcement of a new Topgolf facility also helped lift investor sentiment.

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Big insider buys

While no investor should ever buy or sell a company's shares purely on the basis of insider transactions, often they signal confidence by a person familiar with the business.

This was the dynamic with Adebayo Ogunlesi, a member of Topgolf Callaway's board of directors. After divulging last Friday in a regulatory filing that he had bought 383,701 shares of the company via open-market purchases last week, he made a subsequent disclosure detailing more buys. A filing submitted this past Tuesday itemized three additional purchases totaling 461,583 shares.

Such filings detail only the facts and figures of insider transactions, but do not provide any reasons for such moves -- and Ogunlesi has not publicly commented on his purchases. A veteran of the financial services industry, he might consider the stock a fine play in advance of the company's upcoming spinoff of more than 80% of the Topgolf business.

New Florida facility

Ogunlesi might also be simply buying into Topgolf Callaway's expansion. On Thursday it announced that it will open its newest Topgolf facility in Florida -- marking the 10th one in the state. However this will be the first Topgolf to be located on the Emerald Coast, a stretch of land in the state's panhandle fronting the Gulf. It's slated to open on Friday, June 27.

While the director's moves are certainly bringing attention to the stock, they shouldn't distract from the always-important fundamentals of the company. Personally I don't feel golf offers much of a growth opportunity, no matter how well conceived and appealing those Topgolf outlets may be.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Topgolf Callaway Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Experimental plastics recycling company PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ: PCT) got a boost this week from a bullish note published by an analyst. By late Thursday evening, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the company's shares were trading more than 18% higher week to date.

A bull reiterates his buy recommendation

The PureCycle bull is Cantor Fitzgerald's Andres Sheppard, who on Wednesday morning reiterated his overweight -- buy, in other words -- recommendation on the company's stock. He also maintained his $12-per-share price target.

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In Sheppard's view, according to reports, PureCycle is a fine long-term play as it leverages patented, exclusive technology for plastics recycling. It also boasts a first-mover advantage and sits in front of a large total addressable market.

PureCycle is also actively demonstrating its offerings to the world in a series of customer trials, of which there are more than 30 at present, according to the analyst. A further slate of over 50 trials is pending. Finally, it recently booked its first revenue, moving it out of the experimental and into the commercial stage of its life.

The ability to scale

The Cantor Fitzgerald pundit also sounded a bullish note about PureCycle's future, pointing out that a facility currently in development in Georgia should add meaningful scale to its operations. That plant is expected to become operational in 2027.

Given its unique angle on plastics recycling, PureCycle is certainly an intriguing investment. It's certainly worth a look, as we live in a world awash in plastic and good recycling solutions are welcome. I'd say this is a stock to keep an eye on.

Should you invest $1,000 in PureCycle Technologies right now?

Before you buy stock in PureCycle Technologies, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and PureCycle Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

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Satellite stocks were in vogue in late trading on Thursday, thanks to a rapidly escalating spat between two of the most high-profile individuals in the world. A beneficiary of this was Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT), which ended up booking a 2.6% gain in its share price on the day. That made it an outperformer in light of the S&P 500 index's 0.5% decline.

Funding threat

Earlier in the day, a social media war of words erupted between President Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk. That occurred just after Musk, on his X (formerly Twitter) platform, leveled criticisms against Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill currently making rather jagged progress through the Senate.

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In one of several responses on Trump's favored social media platform, Truth Social, the president made what can easily be taken as a direct and unambiguous threat to Musk's various businesses. He wrote that "The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts."

Among Musk's businesses, which of course include Tesla, are SpaceX and Starlink. The latter company counts federal government agencies such as the Departments of Defense and Commerce as its clients. If such revenue sources were indeed to be cut off suddenly, the move would have quite a detrimental effect on Space X.

Its loss would surely be rivals' gain; hence the interest in Viasat. The company provides satellite services that rival those of Starlink.

A potentially high-stakes dispute

Of course, so far there have been tough words but no action in regards to shutting off the federal taps that flow to Musk's business. Personally, I wouldn't trade Viasat or any potential beneficiary on rhetoric alone right now, but this is a rapidly developing story that's worth monitoring for anyone invested in satellite or space stocks presently.

Should you invest $1,000 in Viasat right now?

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A generally worried investor base and promising developments with a rival cryptocurrency segment put the kibosh on Dogecoin's (CRYPTO: DOGE) value on Thursday. The foundational meme coin stumbled late that afternoon, declining nearly 14% in value as of 4 p.m. ET. By contrast, the equity market wasn't suffering nearly as much, with the S&P 500 index closing the day 0.5% lower.

Trade war blues

The trade war between the U.S. and its major trading partners ground on Thursday, with no end immediately in sight. The conflict hasn't been beneficial to speculative assets like cryptocurrencies generally. Dogecoin -- not nearly as useful a coin or blockchain as a growing number of altcoins -- is highly speculative even among other cryptos.

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Thursday afternoon it was reported that imports of foreign-manufactured goods plummeted month-to-month in April, showing that the dispute is having a tangible effect on the structure of the domestic and global economies. Investors tend to like steady and predictable developments in both, not dramatic swings.

Compounding problems for Dogecoin and other meme coins, the crypto world seems to be more focused on (and enthusiastic about) stablecoins. On Thursday, it was reported that Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego said as many as 16 members of his Democrat party in the chamber could vote to approve the stablecoin bill currently being deliberated by that body.

If passed, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) would set a pack of rules and regulations governing such cryptocurrencies.

Dodging Dogecoin

Although I think Dogecoin has a decent shot at a brief rebound given that it's an enduringly popular meme coin, for me it's too unpredictably volatile as an investment to put money into. I don't think the trade war's going to end soon, either, and it feels like the crypto spotlight will continue to shine on stablecoins for a bit. I'd leave Dogecoin alone for now.

Should you invest $1,000 in Dogecoin right now?

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,841!*

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Veteran industrial company Greif (NYSE: GEF) was a standout on the stock exchange Thursday. Investors, captivated by a very convincing earnings beat in the company's freshly reported second quarter of fiscal 2025, pushed the industrial packing specialist's share price up by nearly 16%. In doing so, Greif not only crushed the S&P 500 index's performance on the day (it landed in the red by 0.5%), but also that of many blue chip stocks.

A steady operator

Greif published those quarterly results just after market close on Wednesday, divulging that its net sales inched up by 1% on a year-over-year basis to hit nearly $1.39 billion. The dynamic was similar on the bottom line, with GAAP net income bumping 0.5% higher to $54.5 million, or $1.22 per share.

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Although the consensus analyst estimate for revenue was higher, at $1.42 billion, pundits tracking the stock underestimated profitability. Collectively, they were anticipating Greif would only earn $1.12 per share in net income.

In its earnings release, Greif management indicated a steady-as-she-goes approach to its business. It quoted CEO Ole Rosgaard as saying that "The resilience of our results, supported by deliberate portfolio moves and operational discipline, demonstrates that Greif is well-positioned for success and value creation now and in the future."

Dependability and a high-yield dividend

Greif cautiously proffered selected guidance for the entirety of this fiscal year, raising the low end of its projection for non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to $725 million and its adjusted free cash flow to $280 million. Both estimates compare positively to the actual fiscal 2024 results of $694 million and just under $190 million, respectively.

Greif isn't the most exciting company on the scene, but at times, it's the unexciting businesses that produce the most dependably pleasing results. This one does what it does well, and what's more it knows how to keep its investors happy with a relatively high-yield dividend. I think it' s a fine stock to own, even after the post-earnings pop.

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One of the better sources of growth in the stock market on Thursday could be found with Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) shares. The veteran gardening supplies company enjoyed an 11% surge across the trading session, after it reiterated its bullish guidance for the entirety of its fiscal 2025. And that was on a generally bearish day for the market as a whole, as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) landed in negative territory with a 0.5% dip.

Guidance reiterated

Before the market open, Scotts felt compelled to update investors on its projections for the fiscal year. The company is sticking to its existing forecasts, which are counting on U.S. consumer net sales growing at a low-single-digit percentage rate compared to fiscal 2024,with non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) coming in at $570 million to $590 million. The company has not provided net income guidance.

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That contrasts favorably with the average consensus analyst estimate. Collectively, prognosticators tracking Scotts stock are anticipating a single-digit percentage decline in revenue for fiscal 2025. They are modeling $3.44 billion, a figure that's more than 3% below the previous year's result.

Scotts is generally more on investor radars at this time of the year because we're in growing season, the period where individual and institutional growers alike do much of their planting. The company quoted CEO Jim Hagedorn as saying, "With the peak lawn and garden season upon us, we continue to drive positive outcomes on multiple fronts, a reflection of the health of our consumer, coupled with the power of our incremental marketing investments and retailer promotional programs."

Appealing for some investors

While it's encouraging that Scotts management continues to stand by its revenue growth projections, to me that's not enough to get excited about the stock. This is essentially a slow-growing, mature business at its core that pays an attractive dividend yielding 4.1% at present. To my mind, that makes it something of an income stock play, but I wouldn't count on great leaps in the fundamentals.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Scotts Miracle-Gro. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Construction and engineering services provider Argan (NYSE: AGX) was a big hit on the stock exchange Thursday, a direct result of the far better-than-expected quarterly results it posted the day before. Investors plowed into the company to give it an 8% lift on the day, providing a notable contrast to the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) 0.5% decrease.

Double- and triple-digit pops

For its inaugural quarter of fiscal 2026, Argan's revenue came in at just under $193.7 million, a meaty 23% year-over-year increase. That was accompanied by a significant (36%) increase in project backlog, to a record level of almost $1.9 billion. Even better, net income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards nearly tripled, landing at almost $22.6 million ($1.60) versus the less than $7.9 million of fiscal first quarter 2025.

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Both headline numbers absolutely obliterated the consensus analyst estimates. On average, pundits tracking Argan stock were modeling slightly below $176 million on the top line, and a per-share GAAP net income figure of $0.90.

In the earnings release, Argan attributed its powerful gains largely to one key customer base. It quoted CEO David Watson as saying that the improvements came largely from "the energy industry's urgent response to the growing strain on our power grids related to the building of data centers, the onshoring of complex manufacturing, and an increasing amount of electric vehicle (EV) charging activity."

No longer a sleeper stock?

Outperformance like this rarely escapes the notice of investors, so it was hardly surprising that they bid up Argan's shares after the earnings release was published. The trends driving the fundamentals well higher should remain in force for quite some time -- particularly the dynamic behind the data center demand, which is directly related to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) -- so this once under-the-radar stock should continue to be a solid play.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Software development facilitator GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB) was facilitating some handsome returns for shareholders on Thursday, thanks in no small part to an optimistic new analyst note. In late-session trading the company's share price was up by almost 4%, and doing much better than the slumping S&P 500 index with its 0.2% decline.

Bullish pundit take reiterated

That note was published in anticipation of the release of GitLab's earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2026, which is scheduled for next Tuesday, June 10. Its author, KeyBanc's Jason Celino, reiterated his overweight (buy, in other words) recommendation on the specialty tech stock, and his price target of $60 per share. That implies potential upside of nearly 22% on the stock's current level.

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According to reports, Celino believes GitLab could very well post a year-over-year revenue growth figure higher than the lofty 25.9% analyst consensus. In his view this will be driven by continued take-up of the company's Duo and Dedicated solutions, the former of which is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities.

That growth should have a positive knock-on effect with GitLab's full-year guidance; the analyst implied that the company's projections for the period will be raised. He did sound a note of caution about the spending of public-sector clients, given recent federal government budget-tightening efforts.

Rolling along

GitLab is indisputably a success story in the tech world, and has solid momentum behind it that looks set to continue. Those public sector clients are something of a worry; however, I feel the company is resilient enough to survive a notable downturn in the segment.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,841!*

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends GitLab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) stock was adding a few dollars to its stock price as the Thursday trading session approached closing time. Although investors weren't impressed by the quarterly earnings report the company posted the previous morning, sentiment improved thanks to price target raises -- and even one recommendation upgrade -- by analysts Thursday.

Dollar Tree's share price was more than 8% higher in mid-afternoon action, contrasting very favorably with the 0.2% dip of the S&P 500 index.

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A difference of opinion

Dollar Tree published its fiscal first-quarter figures Wednesday morning. However, investors were more concerned about management's lower-than-expected sales guidance for the year than the double-digit gain it posted in revenue, and its notable improvement in same-store sales.

Analysts were more impressed, and on Thursday more than a few published bullish updates on their Dollar Tree takes. One that stood out was written by J.P. Morgan's Matthew Boss, who went so far as to upgrade his recommendation on the stock to overweight (read: buy) from neutral. He also cranked his price target well higher -- it's now $111 per share, where previously it stood at $72.

According to reports, Boss feels that Dollar Tree has the potential to return to double-digit profitability growth given the numerous levers it can pull to boost the bottom line. He believes it'll be successful devising tariff mitigation measures (should tariffs remain an issue), and it should save on costs following the recent deal it reached to divest its Family Dollar brand for just over $1 billion.

The bargain retailer is a bargain

I'd be more inclined to side with the view of those optimistic analysts than that of the bearish investors who sold out of Dollar Tree post-earnings. Economic insecurity is growing for many American consumers, a situation that benefits discount retailers that effectively attract shoppers with constricted budgets. I would certainly consider buying this stock now.

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TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), the retail conglomerate that owns TJ Maxx and Marshall's, didn't wow the market with its most recent quarterly performance. In mid-May it published first-quarter of its fiscal 2026 results that disappointed investors, who traded out of the company's stock mainly due to weaker-than-expected guidance.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, however, a clutch of analysts tracking TJX stock reiterated their bullish takes on the company, with several going so far as to raise their price targets. Let's unpack the reasons for this and determine whether such optimism is justified.

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Grumbling about guidance

One indisputably positive element of TJX's first quarter was that the company managed to grow its most crucial sales figures. Its top line was slightly over $13.1 billion, representing improvement of 5% on a year-over-year basis -- rather a high rate for a discount retailer, and one that's been in the game as long as TJX. That top-line number also exceeded the consensus analyst estimates, if only slightly.

Same-store sales, always a crucial metric in the retail game, also didn't look bad -- they increased by 3% during the period. Meanwhile, the company's overall store count grew by 26 (to an end-quarter tally of 5,121), and of course that rise was at least partially responsible for the higher net sales.

Net income, based on GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), went in the opposite direction, dipping by 3% to a shade over $1 billion. Like overall sales, this very modestly exceeded the average pundit projection.

So there wasn't anything overly concerning in TJX's key metrics for the quarter. The rub, however, was in the company's guidance. With the proviso that its assumptions were based on the state of the U.S.-China tariff dispute as of May 21, management provided an outlook for both its current (second) quarter, and the entirety of fiscal 2026.

TJX is modeling comparable sales growth of 2% to 3% year over year for the quarter, with earnings per share (EPS) coming in at $0.97 to $1. The latter range is 1% to 4% over the actual second quarter of fiscal 2025 result, yet those analysts following the company's stock have an average $1.04 estimate for the metric.

For the entirety of this fiscal year, TJX is anticipating that "comps" will rise at a 2% to 3% clip, which is somewhat dispiriting given that fiscal 2025's growth was 4%. Anyway, this should filter down into per-share earnings of $4.34 to $4.43, meaning year-over-year improvement of at least 2%. Again, though, the consensus analyst estimate is some distance north of that range, at $4.49.

It's safe to say that that bottom-line guidance misses were the chief drivers of the stock's post-earnings sell-off. The continued uncertainty over the state of our up-and-down tariff spat with China wasn't helping sentiment. either.

Pundit positivity

None of this dissuaded most of the analysts making those projections. A typical reaction was the one from Bank of America Securities' Lorraine Hutchinson, who confidently reiterated her buy recommendation on the stock and $145 per share price target (which anticipates double-digit upside for the shares of 15%).

According to reports, Hutchinson feels that TJX is still effectively targeting "trade down" consumers, i.e. folks looking to save money by purchasing more modestly priced items than previously. At the same time, management is doing a fine job leveraging quality branded products to capture market share in a range of demographics.

As for tariffs, the analyst essentially believes that they are already priced into the stock. She wrote that much of the pressure of the tariffs is contained, at least in this current quarter. With those factors, the BofA Securities pundit slightly increased her EPS forecasts for both this and next fiscal year.

Growth and income, a fine combination

Let's get down to it -- does all this make TJX shares a buy?

I'd say yes. I agree with bullish takes like Hutchinson's, sharing the observations that management is working well with what it has to offer customers. I, too, am impressed with its efforts to fine-tune product mix. By my personal observation. TJ Maxx and Marshall's outlets continue to be durably popular and well trafficked. I think there are solid reasons for this.

Another reason to like TJX is that it is one of the steadiest and most reliable dividend payers in the retail sector. In fact, its latest dividend raise is about to kick in, for the 28th time in the last 29 years.

That combination of good prospects for fundamental growth and a regular payout constantly boosting shareholder income is appealing to me. I'm siding with the bulls on TJX stock.

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Not for the first time in their relatively brief existences, quantum computing stocks shot well higher in value on Thursday. That wasn't due to any fresh innovation, discovery, or major business move. Rather, it seemed to have more to do with some grand pronouncements by a single quantum company executive.

Nevertheless, as a writer, I can confirm that words have power, and these were powerful enough to lift the sector as a whole. Industry standard-bearers Quantum Computing (NASDAQ: QUBT), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI), and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) all saw their share prices inflate at double-digit rates. The stocks rose a respective 15%, 24%, and 26% on the day.

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The king of quantum?

Those market-moving words came from the leader of one of their peers, IonQ (NYSE: IONQ). That morning, Barron's published an interview with the company's CEO, Niccolo de Masi, in which he waxed extremely bullish about the prospects for his business. This was clearly taken by the article's readers as likely prosperity for the wider quantum space.

De Masi is clearly not the shy and publicity-adverse type of corporate leader, as he made a series of grand pronouncements about IonQ.

In his eyes, the company is the quantum sector equivalent of graphics processing unit (GPU) king Nvidia or advanced processor specialist Broadcom. As such, IonQ's ultimate prominence and power will be imitated by businesses hoping to catch some of its magic.

In fact, added the executive, "they have always copied and followed us."

That isn't really accurate, as the varied quantum companies currently traded on the stock market are following different paths to hoped-for success. In IonQ's case, it's a "full-stack" business, aiming to provide hardware, the software that runs on it, and applications for control and access.

In a way, though, Quantum Computing, Rigetti, and D-Wave are followers. IonQ was among the first pure-play quantum companies to become publicly traded. That pedigree is a factor that has helped drive its market cap to over $11 billion at present. That dwarfs its three peers, as the most richly capitalized of the trio -- D-Wave -- is currently valued by investors at under $5.6 billion.

Rivers of red ink

Nevertheless, investors should always be wary of hype, especially when applied to an early-stage industry struggling to get on its financial feet -- like quantum.

While the technology has indisputably immense potential, getting a quantum business to the point where it's efficient and profitable is quite the challenge. None of the prominent quantum companies -- yes, including IonQ -- has yet to stem their often very deep net losses.

There are potentially significant catalysts on the horizon. One that could change the landscape dramatically is Congress's National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act.

As the name implies, this would restart a federal program aimed at boosting quantum, with public funding for businesses actively involved in such work. Capital for cash-hungry companies on the cutting-edge of new technologies is almost always scarce; passing the act into law would alleviate that nagging and persistent headache.

I have to emphasize here that such industry-boosting factors are only potential at this point, not reality. And that goes double for any talk of a single quantum company or a clutch of them becoming the new Nvidia or Broadcom.

Both of these successful enterprises are the products of years of patient business development and often heavy research and development expenditure. Neither blasted into the world suddenly as cash-gushing winners.

Spread the wealth

At this point, it's hard to place bets on which quantum company, or companies, will pull ahead with offerings irresistible to customers thirsty for exponential increases in computing power.

Given that, it's probably a good move for quantum bulls to spread out their investments among the leading stocks in the space. I feel all of the aforementioned titles can potentially leverage the technology into robust profits eventually -- and yes, that includes IonQ, all hype and hot air aside.

Should you invest $1,000 in Quantum Computing right now?

Before you buy stock in Quantum Computing, consider this:

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $644,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $807,814!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.