AI Stocks Soar While Budget Retailers Face Steep Declines

Stock Market Overview: 2024 saw AI investments thrive, led by Nvidia, with Palantir and SoundHound posting substantial gains. In contrast, budget retailers like Walgreens suffered significant losses, influenced by rising inflation and competition.

Date: 11-01-2025

AI Rating: 6

Market Highlights: The report outlines a stark contrast in stock performances throughout 2024, emphasizing the significant rise of AI stocks, particularly Nvidia, which regained its position as the largest public company by market cap. Several other AI-related stocks, such as Palantir Technologies and SoundHound AI, demonstrated remarkable price increases of 341% and 836%, respectively.

Impacts on Major Players: In the tech sector, firms including Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple outperformed the S&P 500, while Microsoft lagged. This suggests that the technology sector remained strong amidst the rise of AI applications, influencing investor sentiment positively toward those companies.

Challenges in Budget Retail: Conversely, budget retailers, including Walgreens Boots Alliance, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and CVS Health, experienced significant declines of over 40%, with Walgreens reportedly losing more than 60% of its stock value. Reasons for this downturn include inflation affecting consumer spending.

Healthcare Sector Trends: The report also mentions difficulties faced by drugmakers, notably Moderna and Biogen, which saw declines of 57% and 41%, respectively. Moderna's issues stem from falling demand for COVID-19 vaccines, while Biogen faces challenges related to the performance of its Alzheimer's drug and drug pipeline concerns, impacting future revenue.

Conclusion: The analysis presents a mixed picture for investors: while 2024 was a fruitful year for tech and AI-related stocks, budget retailers and some healthcare stocks faced significant challenges that hindered their performance.

Stocks: NVDA PLTR AMZN AAPL GOOGL MSFT WBA CVS MRNA BIIB