Ever have one of those trading sessions where it feels like the entire market decided to wake up and choose chaos? That was pretty much Monday midday on November 24, 2025. While most of us were grabbing a second coffee, a handful of stocks were either blasting off to the moon or crashing straight through the floor. I’m still rubbing my eyes at some of these moves.
From electric vehicle giants teasing next-gen AI hardware to sleep apnea device makers riding Medicare tailwinds, the action was relentless. Let’s unpack the names that refused to stay quiet today – because some of these swings are the kind that can make or break a month.
Midday Madness: The Stocks Everyone Was Talking About
Here’s the thing about midday movers – they’re rarely random. Usually there’s fresh news, a tweet from someone influential, or an analyst finally waking up to reality. Today delivered all three in spades.
Tesla Charges Higher on Fresh AI Chip Buzz
Let’s start with the name that never seems to leave the headline reel: Tesla. Shares ripped almost 7% higher after Elon Musk casually announced on social media that the company is basically done with its A15 AI chip and has already started design work on A16. Yes, you read that right – a new AI training chip every single year.
In my experience watching this company for years, when Elon starts talking hardware timelines, the stock tends to listen. Volume production every 12 months is an insanely aggressive cadence, even for Tesla. But if anyone can pull it off, it’s probably the team that already builds its own chips instead of begging Nvidia for scraps.
“Goal is to bring a new AI chip design to volume production every 12 months.”
– Elon Musk on X
That single sentence was enough to send traders piling in. Fair? Maybe not entirely, but momentum is momentum.
Inspire Medical Systems Wakes Up With a 30% Pop
If there was a winner of the day award, Inspire Medical might have sprinted away with it. Shares exploded nearly 30% after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decided to boost reimbursement rates for outpatient procedures – music to the ears of a company that makes implantable devices for obstructive sleep apnea.
Stifel didn’t waste any time either. They slapped a buy rating on it, hiked their price target 10% to $110, and basically told clients to back up the truck. When reimbursement tailwinds meet analyst love, you get fireworks. Simple as that.
Novo Nordisk Hits a Speed Bump
Not everyone was celebrating. Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma giant that’s been everyone’s darling thanks to Ozempic and Wegovy, dropped almost 6% after its closely watched Alzheimer’s trial failed to hit the primary endpoint. Slowing cognitive decline? Nope, not statistically significant.
Look, Alzheimer’s is an absolute graveyard for drug developers. The fact that investors were pricing in success at all was optimistic. Still hurts when reality bites, especially when your stock has basically only gone up for two years straight.
Healthcare Names Light Up on ACA Subsidy News
Speaking of healthcare, a Politico report that the White House plans to push for a two-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies sent a whole corner of the market flying. Oscar Health led the pack with a ridiculous 24% surge, while Centene and Molina Healthcare tacked on 7% and 4% respectively.
- Oscar Health +24%
- Centene +7%
- Molina Healthcare +4%
The catch? New eligibility limits are apparently coming too. But for now, investors are focusing on the “extension” part rather than the fine print.
U.S. Foods Says No Thanks to Merger, Yes to Buybacks
Sometimes the best deals are the ones you walk away from. U.S. Foods scrapped talks of merging with Performance Food Group, reaffirmed guidance, and – the part shareholders really cared about – authorized a fresh $1 billion share repurchase program. Stock loved it, up 7%.
I’ve always said buybacks are basically corporate Red Bull. Instant energy.
Chinese Tech Quietly Having a Moment
While everyone fixates on U.S. mega-caps, two Chinese giants were sneaking higher. Alibaba added 4% after announcing its new AI app topped 10 million downloads in its first week. Baidu went even better – almost 8% – after JPMorgan upgraded it to overweight and predicted massive AI-driven upside.
Maybe, just maybe, the great China discount is starting to look overdone.
The Ones That Got Away
Not every story had a happy ending. Grindr crashed 10% after a special committee shut down buyout talks at $18 per share, citing financing uncertainty. Tegna and Nexstar both slipped after comments opposing changes to TV station ownership caps – effectively throwing cold water on their pending combination.
PureCycle Technologies got downgraded hard by TD Cowen on delayed orders, and the stock gave up another 2+%. Sometimes the market just reminds you it has teeth.
Smaller Names, Big Moves
Blue Foundry Bancorp stole some thunder with a 40% rocket after agreeing to be acquired by Fulton Financial. MP Materials caught a rare earth upgrade from BMO and jumped 7%. Even Carvana – yes, that Carvana – added 6% after Wedbush said the recent sell-off was overdone.
Merck rounded things out with a tidy 4% gain after Wells Fargo told clients the Keytruda patent cliff fear is yesterday’s story.
Here’s the bottom line: days like today are why we keep watching. One tweet, one regulatory decision, one trial readout – any of them can send a stock flying or falling. The market never sleeps, and neither do the opportunities (or landmines).
Some of these moves will probably fade by tomorrow. Others might be the start of something much bigger. That’s the beauty and the terror of it all.
Either way, Monday midday reminded us once again – in this market, you snooze, you lose.
