An Astounding Turnaround for $PLCE, A Very Bad Day for $DJT: What We're Watching Today

Happy Thursday! Markets started out shaky following CPI data yesterday, but ended the day green. What will today hold? Beats us, but here’s what our research team is watching today:

Hot or Not: Stock Market Edition 

Symbol: DJIA 🔥

Price: 40,861.71

Change: +124.75

% Change: +0.31

Symbol: Nasdaq 🔥  

Price: 17,395.53

Change: +369.65

% Change: +2.17

Symbol: S&P 500 🔥 

Price: 5,554.13

Change: +58.61

% Change: +1.07

* As of market close yesterday

🔥 HOT: The Children's Place (NASDAQ: PLCE) has really turned things around over the last year, posting EPS of $0.30 on Wednesday compared to a loss of $2.12 for the same quarter last year. The market responded with a huge buying surge that saw the company’s share price jump by 86.3% on absolutely massive volume. PLCE saw 71.9 million shares traded on Thursday, significantly more than its 20-day rolling average volume of 3.9 million shares.

🥶 NOT: After a month and a half of solid gains, shares of Laser Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: LASE) lost 40.7% on Wednesday. The stock was up more than 400% since the end of July, so Wednesday’s loss is most likely due to swing trader activity and not a sign of a fundamental change in the company’s trajectory. While trading volume was up significantly on Wednesday compared to Tuesday’s activity, it did not exceed the volume traded during last week’s buying surge.

🔥 HOT: Nano Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) is making headlines again as it announced that it signed a deal with German nuclear waste management company GNS to build a uranium transportation system. Shares of NNE gained 22.5% in response to the news. NNE is now up 171.3% YTD.

🥶 NOT: It’s been a wild year for Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT). Shares of the company fell by 10.4% on Wednesday, leaving the stock down 5.4% on the year. DJT was up as much as 350% at one point in late March, but those gains have now been entirely erased. With only two months to go until election day, DJT is sure to see higher-than-average volatility.

📈 Want more? Check out the biggest winners and biggest losers on WSZ. 

Strong Buys: Top Picks from Top Wall Street Analysts 

Looking for investment ideas? With WallStreetZen's Top Analysts, you get high-conviction stock ratings from the best stock analysts in the world. It’s a premium feature on our site, but we’ve unlocked a FREE sampling below: 

1- United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) 

Analyst/Firm: Gordon Johnson / GLJ Research

Analyst ranking: Top 9% / average return +17.07% / win rate 62% 

Yesterday’s market close: $33.39

Price target: $38.57 

• GLJ Research's Gordon Johnson upgraded their rating on United States Steel (NYSE: X) from Strong Sell to Strong Buy on 9/9. The analyst also announced a $38.57 price target.
• GLJ Research's "sum-of-the-parts analysis" indicates a 23% upside from current trading levels after combining consensus 2025 EBITDA projections for each of United States Steel's segments with peer-industry multiples, Johnson told investors.
• The analyst cited Big River 2's existing ramp and the inflated valuations investors are ready to pay for domestic steel assets as factors contributing to the company's stock's undervaluation.
• See why analysts believe X has 56%+ upside potential in the coming year

1-year chart for X, courtesy TradingView 

2- Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) 

Analyst/Firm: Edward Kelly / Wells Fargo

Analyst ranking: Top 10% / average return +11.21% / win rate 57% 

Yesterday’s market close: $66.58

Price target: $100.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Wells Fargo's Edward Kelly lowered their price target on Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) by 23.1% from $130 to $100 on 9/5. Despite the lowered price target, this would represent significant upside for the stock. 
• Dollar Tree reported its Q2 2024 earnings on 9/4. 
• "Dollar Tree's struggles with its complex turnaround continue, with macro and cost challenges resulting in another guide down," was Kelly's assessment after taking in the report.
• Noting that "investor confidence in the name is near rock bottom," the analyst nevertheless argued that Dollar Tree has been "painful, but it's worth a shot at current levels on a favorable risk/reward."

1-year chart for DLTR, courtesy TradingView 

3- MarineMax (NYSE: HZO) 

Analyst/Firm: James Hardiman / Citigroup

Analyst ranking: Top 17% / average return +9.84% / win rate 42% 

Yesterday’s market close: $30.45

Price target: $44.00

• Citigroup's James Hardiman upgraded their rating on MarineMax (NYSE: HZO) from Hold to Strong Buy on 9/9. The analyst also raised their price target by 10% from $40 to $44.
• Hardiman said they see Marinemax as "a strong play on the Fed pivot," arguing that the company will "benefit mightily in a soft-landing scenario" because boat affordability has been negatively affected by higher interest rates for a long time. 
• Further, the analyst told investors that  the company's opportunity to monetize marina real estate "is as imminent as it has ever been, and notwithstanding management's historical hesitation to do so, pressure will grow if the traditional and fundamental paths to upside prove distant or unlikely."
• Overall, the analyst told readers that Citigroup believes investors should give Marinemax "a second look because the story embodies both substantial upside and limited downside."
• 5 analysts we track are bullish on HZO — see what they’re saying.

1-year chart for HZO, courtesy TradingView 

Gain access to dozens of alerts like this per week — Click the button below.

👉👉 Try WallStreetZen Premium for just $1

Want to get in touch? Email us at news@wallstreetzen.com.