Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 12/26/2024

Parlez-vous BIG GAINS? Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) is poised for an excellent 2025; American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) reaps the benefits of a busy holiday travel season. Not so hot? MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) loses big, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) has a big selloff. 📈 Want more? Check out the biggest winners and biggest losers on WSZ. 

🔥 HOT: Despite losing 1.3% on Monday, Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) is poised for a big 2025 thanks to AI, according to Brian Moriarity of Morningstar. Duolingo’s userbase grew by 36% year-over-year through the third quarter of 2024 and the fraction of those users who pay for premium services grew by 47% over the same period. Duolingo’s global reach—which is significantly extended by AI, by the way—is the key to its current success and what’s powered it to a 47% YTD gain and a B Zen Rating.

🥶 NOT: MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) lost 8.8% on Monday after it came to light that the company paid north of $100,000 per token in its latest round of Bitcoin buying. MicroStrategy sold off some of its common stock in order to purchase more Bitcoin at a price that is, as of Monday, about 12% higher than Bitcoin’s current trading price. Being heavily invested in Bitcoin has worked out for MSTR so far this year, propelling the stock to a massive 379% YTD gain, but whether it’s worth being so tightly coupled to such a volatile asset will pay off for the company in the long run.

🔥 HOT: American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) continued to ride the holiday travel spike, gaining 2.2% on the day. American has had an outstanding year, gaining 54.6% YTD and maintaining a solid B Zen Rating. As if holiday travel wasn’t enough of a shot in the arm for AAL, removing the threat of a U.S. Government shutdown also gave the company a major boost, erasing most of the ground it lost last week.

🥶 NOT: Executives at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) collectively sold over a half-million dollars worth of shares last week, triggering a mini selloff in the company’s stock. KTOS has gained 28.1% YTD but has now lost just over 8% in the last five trading days. The company appears to be poised to grow in the long run, but uncertainty over its financials and current momentum give it a conservative Zen Rating of C with a hold recommendation.

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