Markets faced renewed turbulence this week as the Middle East conflict persisted and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz rippled through oil and other sectors. Investors reacted to a combination of company-specific news and broader geopolitical risk, producing large moves across several names.
Hims & Hers
Shares of Hims & Hers, a stock that also carries meaningful short interest, climbed more than 52% over the course of the week. The surge comes after the company announced a new partnership with Novo Nordisk to offer Ozempic and Wegovy on its platform, a move that reportedly resolved an outstanding dispute between the two companies. That development has reawakened investor enthusiasm for the company’s weight-loss drug business and pushed the stock toward what would be its strongest weekly performance on record.
PayPay
PayPay, the SoftBank-backed digital payments platform, enjoyed a robust debut following its initial public offering. Priced at $16 per share, the stock opened trading strongly on Thursday and extended gains into Friday. At the time reported here, shares were trading at $21.38, roughly 17.7% higher during Friday’s session. The sharp early gains were accompanied by disclosure that ARK Invest purchased 275,000 shares of PayPay through its fintech-focused ETF on the company’s March 12 debut day.
Fertilizer names
Concerns about supply disruptions tied to the Strait of Hormuz closure pushed fertilizer stocks notably higher. CF Industries gained about 16.9% over the last week, The Mosaic Company rose 13%, and Nutrien increased roughly 10% as investors weighed potential constraints on supply.
Oracle
Oracle reported quarterly results on Tuesday, beating consensus expectations and sending its shares up approximately 9.2% in Wednesday’s trading. After an ensuing pullback, Oracle was nonetheless up about 2.5% for the week. Following the results, Mizuho analyst Siti Panigrahi reiterated an Outperform rating and a $400 price target on the stock, writing: "The beat confirms Oracle’s capacity ramp is converting backlog into revenue at the pace needed to hit FY26 cloud growth targets, which should increase investor confidence."
Financial sector pressures
Several large financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global Management, traded lower on Thursday amid investor concerns about contagion stemming from private credit stresses. The pullback followed reports that some investors have begun redeeming cash from private-credit funds, a trend that could increase exposure for banks connected to those markets.
Overall, the week combined geopolitical supply worries with significant corporate developments, creating uneven performance across sectors and individual stocks.
Note: The article references market moves and corporate announcements as reported during the week. Performance figures and quoted analyst commentary reflect the information provided.