S&P 500 component Palantir Technologies leads five stocks in focus for this week's stock market. Adtalem Global Education, Spotify Technology, Marex Group and Loar Holdings are the other stocks to watch.
The stock market had a mixed session Thursday to close a shortened down week. Nvidia export curbs and Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell's tariff-driven economic concerns drove Wednesday's sell-off and major indexes continued to run flat to slightly lower on Thursday.
Last week, the Dow Jones sank 2.7%, the S&P 500 shed 1.5% and the Nasdaq fell 2.6%. The Russell 2000 rose 1.1%.
President Donald Trump's global tariffs policies have escalated the U.S. trade war with China and wrapped the stock market in uncertainty this month, leading analysts and economists to forecast increased risk of a recession.
Amid this current environment, with the stock market whipsawed by trade policy related-headlines, these five stocks are all showing robust relative strength lines. Investors can add them to watchlists. In a tough market it's prudent to remain defensive.
Investors can also keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
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S&P 500: Palantir Stock
Palantir stock jumped 5.9% to 93.78 in last week's stock market action, moving just above the 50-day line. The S&P 500 stock is now trading slightly below a traditional 98.17 buy point from a double-bottom base. PLTR briefly topped the entry earlier in the week. The stock could possibly form a handle to the base right around the 98.17 buy point, according to MarketSurge chart analysis.
Founded in 2003, Palantir has provided data analytics tools to government customers for intelligence gathering, counterterrorism and military purposes. Now Palantir aims to use generative AI to spur growth in the U.S. commercial market, such as health care and financial services.
The Denver-based company offers three platforms. One is Palantir Gotham, used primarily by government agencies. There's Palantir Metropolis for banks, financial services firms and hedge funds. And Palantir Foundry is used by corporate clients.
The company reports first-quarter earnings and revenue on May 5. Palantir was featured in IBD's New America this week.
So far in 2025, Palantir stock has advanced 24%. However, shares are down about 25% from an all-time high of 125.41 on Feb. 19.
PLTR stock has a 21-day average true range of 8.56%. The ATR metric is available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool. It gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
In the current market, IBD suggests stocks with ATRs of 3% or below.
The S&P 500 stock has a perfect 99 Composite Rating. Palantir stock also has a 99 Relative Strength Rating and a 98 EPS Rating.
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Adtalem Stock
ATGE shares finished the week's stock market up 2.3% to 106.04. The stock appears to be working on a consolidation. The stock is forming a cup base with a 112.44 buy point, according to MarketSurge pattern recognition.
The April 9 high of 107.05 is another possible entry, with shares pushing past that level late last week but not closing above it. The stock market remains risky for stock purchases. The stock is up 5.4% in April.
The relative strength line, the blue line in the charts provided, is already at new highs and has been for several weeks.
Based in Chicago, Adtalem offers a range of academic programs aligned with health care industry needs. With nearly 10,000 employees and its network of institutions, Adtalem serves more than 90,000 students. It has a community of about 350,000 alumni, according to the company.
It is also a leading provider of health care education, and has bet on artificial intelligence to help train health care professionals.
It is a business that is thus far not exposed to tariff risks, the vagaries of tech stocks or the political turmoil surrounding major universities. That makes it somewhat of an oasis for stock market investors.
ATGE shares jumped to an all-time high of 112.44 on Jan. 31, when Adtalem beat analysts' expectations for the December-ended quarter.
Adtalem stock has a 21-day average true range of 4.74%. The stock has a perfect 99 Composite Rating. ATGE also has a 97 Relative Strength Rating and a 97 EPS Rating.
Spotify Stock
SPOT stock angled 2% higher on Thursday, ending the week up 5.6% to 574.25. Shares of the audio entertainment giant have formed a double-bottom base with a buy point of 621.20.
Spotify stock is just below its 50-day moving average line, however. It's also in a sixth-stage base, and breakouts from late-stage bases are more prone to fail.
Despite this, shares have advanced 28% in 2025. The stock is up 4.4% in April. The relative strength line is already at a new high.
SPOT stock edged higher Thursday night on the Netflix earnings report. Like the video streaming giant, Spotify is relatively insulated from tariffs and perhaps recession resistant.
The next potential catalyst for Spotify stock is the first-quarter earnings report, due early on April 29. Analysts polled by FactSet expect Spotify to earn $2.49 a share, up 139% year over year. Revenue is seen rising 23% to $4.77 billion in the March quarter.
Further, analysts predict that Spotify will add 1.9 million premium subscribers in Q1 for a total of 264.9 million worldwide. They also see the service reaching 679 million monthly active users in the period, up 4 million since the end of 2024. Spotify offers an ad-supported service in addition to its commercial-free subscription service.
In addition to gaining share in the streaming music market, Spotify has other levers to drive sales and earnings. It recently announced new initiatives to boost its advertising revenue. The company also is rumored to be considering a higher-priced service level for "super fans."
Spotify stock is on two IBD lists: Leaderboard and Tech Leaders. Spotify was also IBD's Stock Of The Day on Monday.
The stock has a 21-day average true range of 6.01%. Spotify stock has a perfect 99 Composite Rating. SPOT shares boast a 98 Relative Strength Rating and an 81 EPS Rating.
Marex Group Stock
IPO stock Marex advanced 3.2% last week to 38.61. MRX stock is now up 9.3% in April. The stock is trading just below a 40.05 buy point, holding its 21-day exponential moving average after rebounding from the 50-day moving average.
Marex Group listed on the Nasdaq for an initial offering price of 19 in April 2024. On the first day of trading, Marex shares closed at 18.99, according to IBD MarketSurge. Trading remained muted for the first few weeks. However, the stock has climbed more than 100% since then.
The stock briefly advanced above the 40.05 buy point on April 9, hitting an all-time high of 40.96 before retreating.
Shares soared on April 2 when the financial services company held its Investor Day and released preliminary first-quarter results. Marex also announced that it had acquired brokerage firm Aarna Capital.
London-based trading services firm Marex estimated Q1 revenue of $449.3 million to $464.3 million. That would be an increase of 23% to 27% from the year-ago total of $365.8 million. Marex now estimates adjusted earnings per share of 88 to 93 cents, or an increase of 27.5% to 35% from the 69 cents in the first quarter of 2024.
"Very robust levels of client activity across our businesses and positive market conditions have continued into 2025 and led to a strong performance in the first quarter of the year, building on our performance in 2024," Chief Executive Ian Lowitt said at the time.
The company is expected to report full Q1 results on May 8.
MRX stock has a 21-day average true range of 6.48%. Marex Group has a near-perfect 98 Composite Rating. The stock also has a 98 Relative Strength Rating and 99 EPS Rating.
Loar Stock
Shares of LOAR declined 3.7% to 85.07 last week. However, the stock has soared more than 20% so far in April. The aerospace and defense name is building the right side of a deep cup base as shares continue to climb from a recent low.
Shares are building what would normally be the right side of an early-stage deep cup base with a 96.99 buy point. But LOAR is forging a handle to offer a lower entry. It's already there on a weekly chart, offering a 90.99 entry. That handle will likely be on a daily chart after Monday's stock market trade.
However, the buy point is only used during strong market environments. Loar's status as a relatively recent IPO brings an additional layer of risk. Loar stock started trading April 25, 2024, with an offering price of $28 a share.
Loar designs and makes aerospace parts, including braking, deicing, electronics and fluid control parts.
Shares plunged in early December after Loar announced a public offering of 4.75 million shares of common stock. The stock started recovering in earnest after Loar's positive fourth-quarter earnings report on March 31. Shares reclaimed their 10-week moving average last week amid the stock's robust climb.
The defense name beat fourth-quarter earnings and sales expectations on March 31, as the company reported a profit of 11 cents-per-share vs. a loss of a penny-per-share one year ago. Management also said in the earnings news released that it raised its full-year 2025 net sales forecast to a range of $480 million to $488 million, up from a range of $470 million to $480 million.
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Loar first-quarter earnings results aren't expected until late May. However, several aerospace/defense plays report next week. Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman all report Tuesday.
Loar was recently the IPO Stock Of The Week and is on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist and MarketSurge Growth 250. The stock has a 21-day average true range of 6.39%. The stock has a perfect 99 Composite Rating, a 95 Relative Strength Rating and an 80 EPS Rating.
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