How I Made $5000 in the Stock Market

These Stocks Moved the Most Today: Nike, Netflix, Fermi, Moderna, AES, Lithium Americas, Sunrun, Corteva, and More

Oct 01, 2025 05:11:00 -0400 by Joe Woelfel | #Technology

Traders working at the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE)

Key Points

Stocks rose Wednesday as investors shrugged off a U.S. government shutdown and a report that revealed a contraction in private sector jobs in September.

These stocks made notable moves Wednesday:

Nvidia was up 0.4% to hit a fresh record. It build on a closing high from Tuesday to bring its market cap to about $4.55 trillion. Meta Platforms, one of Nvidia’s major customers, has been accelerating its efforts to develop alternatives to Nvidia’s chips.

Nike reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 49 cents a share, topping analysts’ estimates of 27 cents, while revenue of $11.7 billion, up 1% from a year earlier, also beat predictions. Revenue in North America rose 4% from a year earlier to $5.02 billion, driven by higher apparel and equipment sales. The company, however, said progress wouldn’t be “linear” as Nike’s different businesses “recover on different timelines.” Shares of the sneaker and athletic apparel retailer were rising 6.5%.

Netflix was down 2.3% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk echoed calls for a boycott of the streaming service. “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids,” Musk said in a post on his social-media platform X. Conservatives have shared screenshots that appear to show Hamish Steele, who created the animated Netflix show Dead End: Paranormal Park, criticizing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for condemning the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

Fermi made its trading debut Wednesday at $25. At $32.53, it closed up 55% from its initial public offering price of $21. The company aims to power data centers using natural gas plants and nuclear reactors.

Occidental Petroleum was up 1% after The Wall Street Journal reported Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was in talks to buy the oil-and-gas company’s petrochemical business for around $10 billion. The deal, which would be Berkshire’s largest since 2022, could come together within days, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares fell 0.9%.

AES surged 17% after the Financial Times reported that BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners was nearing a $38 billion deal to buy the utility company.

Lithium Americas soared 23%. The U.S. government is taking a 5% stake in the Vancouver-based mining company and a 5% stake in the company’s Thacker Pass mining project in Nevada. General Motors owns a 38% stake in the Nevada mine. GM shares rose 0.6%.

Pfizer rose another 6.8% after shares jumped on Tuesday following an announcement from President Donald Trump that the company would be cutting prices for drugs sold into the Medicaid system, and would launch new drugs in the U.S. at lower prices that match those in other wealthy nations. Shares of competitor Merck were up 7.4% after also gaining 6.8% on Tuesday.

Shares of Moderna, Eli Lilly, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals gained 6.9%, 8.2%, and 6.7%, respectively, as Trump’s 100% tariff on pharmaceutical imports took effect. The levy only applies to branded products from companies that lack a U.S. manufacturing presence. Separately, on Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer prescription drug marketplace.

Corteva tumbled 9.1% after the agricultural company said it was splitting in two. Pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides will continue to be sold under the name Corteva, while a new company called SpinCo will comprise the seed business.

Sunrun rose 6.1% to $18.35. Jefferies upgraded the solar company to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $21 from $11. The upgrade came in anticipation of cash generation in the second half of the year, expected to finally materialize in line with the company’s current guidance of $200 million to $500 million.

AppLovin, the developer of monetization tools for mobile app developers, fell 2%. Shares ended Tuesday’s session up 0.9% at $718.54, a record closing high, and ended the third quarter as the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, rising 105% from the beginning of July to the end of September. AppLovin joined the index last month.

Ford Motor gained 2.6% after total sales at the auto maker rose 8.2% to 545,522 in the third quarter, and electric-vehicle sales spiked 30% to 30,612, a new quarterly record. An EV tax credit expired Tuesday.

Carvana rose 4.8% to $395.41 after Jefferies boosted its rating on shares of the used-car retailer to Buy from Hold and hiked its price target to $485 from $375. The stock has gained 94% this year.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com and Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com