Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 09/18/2025
There’s a lot happening in the market. Let’s turn down the noise and focus on four stocks making distinct moves right now:
- 🔥 HOT: Meta (META) surges on AI buzz with top Sentiment scores; Booking (BKNG) upgraded to Buy
- 🥶 NOT: UnitedHealth (UNH) slumps on probes and rising costs; Westlake (WLK) lags with an industry-low rank
P.S. For more stocks making moves, check out our Zen Ratings Upgrades & Downgrades screener.
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🥶 NOT: UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is currently limping through a chilly patch. Recent top stories flag regulatory probes, ballooning costs, and a sharp share price swoon that even a robust Q2 earnings report couldn’t fully soothe, and it recently earned “Bear of the Day” status from Yahoo Finance. Looking under the hood, UNH sports a ho-hum Zen Rating of C (Hold). The Component Grades reveal mostly Cs, with particularly poor grades for Momentum (F) and Sentiment (D). Recent price action is uninspiring, falling harder than the broader market and shaking investor confidence even after a brief August pop. It’s not a total disaster — steady dividends and industry power remain — but it is far from hot.
🔥 HOT: Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) just booked itself a B (Buy) rating in our Zen Ratings system — a recent upgrade from its previous C (Hold) rating. Its uptrend isn’t just a matter of continued post-pandemic travel lust — it’s the result of the company’s impressive and consistent growth, with releases like the “Connected Trip” strategy and AI innovations fueling long-term upside. Also of note: Analysts and investors are marking their calendars for the company’s next earnings announcement in October to see if BKNG will continue its streak of 11 consecutive earnings beats. In addition to the overall B rating, BKNG is in an A-rated industry, where it ranks an impressive #3 out of 15 (See more top travel stocks here). Its Component Grades reveal strength with an A in Financials and B’s in Sentiment, BKNG is firmly positioned as a top-tier pick. Vacations pay—especially when they’re in your portfolio.
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