Friday closed another winning week for Wall Street, with major benchmarks picking up roughly 1% on the day. Market participants focused on solid growth in U.S. gross domestic product, and even though the numbers weren't quite as good as some had hoped, the U.S. economy appears poised to keep climbing in 2018 in the wake of tax reform and stronger corporate profits. Despite an increasing number of analysts sounding warning bells that a correction could be imminent, little has slowed the upward momentum for the broader market. Good news from individual companies also helped improve the mood among investors, and Intel (INTC +2.71%), Twitter (TWTR +0.00%), and VMware (VMW +0.00%) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Intel overcomes the IRS
Shares of Intel soared nearly 11% after the company reported its financial results for the fourth quarter late Thursday. The chip giant said that it had to take a one-time charge of $5.4 billion in order to pay for the deemed repatriation of its past overseas profits, but after accounting for that hit, adjusted earnings jumped by nearly 40% from the previous year's quarter. Intel also expects solid results for the first quarter of 2018, continuing its strategy of moving away from its PC-based business toward more forward-looking industry niches. Investors like those efforts, and Intel has the opportunity for continued success if it can keep competitors at bay.
Image source: Intel.
Twitter gets a rare recommendation
Twitter stock jumped more than 9% in the wake of a couple of positive news items. Some market participants pointed to ongoing speculation that a buyer might surface to make an offer for the social media company. Yet the more interesting news came from Citron Research, which made a rare bullish call and suggested that the stock could climb to $35 per share, or roughly $13 higher than where Twitter started the day. Citron fueled the merger rumors by suggesting that a Chinese counterpart in social media might bid for Twitter. Given that Citron has built its reputation on being on the short side of the trading book when it comes to its analysis, its talking up Twitter is particularly noteworthy.
VMware to deal with Dell?
Finally, shares of VMware climbed 9%. The virtualization specialist's stock moved upward on rumors that Dell, which owns about 80% of VMware, might consider buying the portion of the company that it doesn't already control. Dell is looking at a number of strategic options for its own business, according to reports, with alternatives including an initial public offering of Dell itself. Until Dell figures out what its next step will be, VMware shareholders could go through some turbulence as speculation pushes the stock in both directions.
