The stock market was generally quiet again on Thursday, with minimal moves lower for most major benchmarks. Once again, technology stocks helped to support the rest of the market, and the Nasdaq Composite outperformed most other stock indexes. New tariffs once again reminded investors of the threats on the trade front, although at least in the U.S., most economic data continue to support the idea of sustained growth for the foreseeable future. Some individual companies also had good news that lifted their shares. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 2.20%), Synopsys (SNPS 1.45%), and FireEye (FEYE +0.00%) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.
AMD gets a favorable review
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices picked up almost 7% after getting positive comments from Wall Street analysts. Rosenblatt Securities, which had already been highly enthusiastic about the chipmaker's prospects, boosted its price target on AMD stock by $3 to $30 per share. In particular, Rosenblatt believes that AMD has the potential to regain a rising share of the traditional PC-chip market at the same time that it's making strides toward building a competitive advantage in the fast-growing graphics processing chip market, especially for use in data-center applications. Even though AMD shares have already seen huge gains, many believe that further demand for semiconductors could keep lifting the stock.
Image source: AMD.
Synopsys has a good quarter
Synopsys stock rose 6% in the wake of the release of the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings report. The electronic design automation specialist said that revenue for the quarter was up 12% from year-ago figures, helping to raise adjusted earnings slightly by about 3%. Both figures were better than those following the stock had expected, and the company also gave favorable guidance for the remainder of its fiscal year. With many clients seeking to improve electronic design and tap into Synopsys' semiconductor intellectual property, software security, and quality solutions expertise, the company sees plenty of growth opportunities stretching even further into the future as well. Investors seem excited about those prospects and the positive impact they could have on the stock.
FireEye wins a battle in the fight against disinformation
Finally, shares of FireEye jumped 6%. The cybersecurity company was extremely valuable in helping a couple of key clients identify disinformation campaigns from Iranian and Russian sources, according to reports, with Alphabet's Google joining previous efforts from Facebook and Twitter to delete social media accounts. Propaganda and other influence campaigns have become increasingly important threats both to the U.S. generally and to the social-media companies on whose platforms such campaigns often appear, and investors are now seeing the value of the services that FireEye can provide in identifying those threats in time to minimize or nullify their negative impacts. That's likely only to add to already strong momentum for the cybersecurity specialist.
