Major benchmarks gave up ground Monday, offering a somewhat delayed reaction after signs of a strong economy late last week dampened the chances for market-boosting interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. With many traders having taken the long four-day weekend off despite the market having been open on Friday, Monday's session saw continued selling pressure. Yet some stocks were able to mount advances on company-specific good news. OrganiGram Holdings (OGI 2.24%), Shopify (SHOP +2.30%), and Weight Watchers International (WW +0.00%) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
OrganiGram goes higher
Shares of OrganiGram Holdings picked up 8% as the marijuana stock continued to gain positive momentum from an unexpected source in the middle of last week. When former Canopy Growth co-CEO Bruce Linton left his company, he gave interviews at which he was asked which pot stocks he thought had the most potential for future growth. In addition to naming his former employer, Linton suggested OrganiGram, in part because he had had a positive experience with the company in working together to supply the Newfoundland and Labrador markets with cannabis. With relatively low costs of cultivating marijuana and supply agreements across Canada, OrganiGram has competitive advantages over many of its peers, and that could help foster future growth.
Image source: Getty Images.
Shopify gets a vote of confidence
Shopify saw its stock gain 2% following positive comments about the e-commerce platform specialist from stock analysts. KeyBanc Capital Markets kept its outperform rating on Shopify and boosted its price target by $50 per share to $350. The analyst company said that with new features designed to provide services that Shopify's platform currently lacks, it sees Shopify being able to match up to the giants of the e-commerce industry within the next four years. Shopify shares have already more than doubled in 2019, but that's not stopping Wall Street from staying on the e-commerce bandwagon and going the distance.
Weight Watchers bulks up its stock price
Finally, shares of Weight Watchers International picked up 6%. The weight-loss giant has had a hard time of it so far in 2019, losing more than half its value during the first six months of the year as the company lost the momentum it gained from having Oprah Winfrey take an active role in its operations. Yet consumer trends are still favoring greater awareness of health and wellness issues, and as the company pivots away from a weight-loss focus to expand its scope to cover a wider range of lifestyle choices, investors increasingly see Weight Watchers having an opportunity to connect with a new set of customers that could bolster its growth for years to come.
