Trending Tickers: $BABA’s New AI Model, $DJT’s FinTech Move, and $UPS Strategic Shift
This week, several stocks caught investors’ attention, driven by significant developments and market momentum. Here’s the breakdown of this week’s trending stocks:
Alibaba ($BABA) Launches New AI Model and Drives Stock Gains
While all the attention of investors was directed to Chinese Deepseek’s AI model, which caused a huge tech sell-off on the US stock market, Alibaba’s Qwen team announced a new family of AI models known as Qwen2.5-VL, which are designed to perform a variety of tasks involving text and image analysis, as well as control functions for PCs and phones. They claim that the new model surpasses OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google’s models in its capabilities across a variety of tasks.
Key Features:
- Smart Agent: Qwen’s new model can act as a visual agent, capable of using tools and interacting with devices like computers and phones.
- Long Video Comprehension: It can analyze videos longer than an hour and identify important events.
- Object Localization: The model can precisely locate objects in images and output their positions in a stable format.
- Structured Output: It can extract and organize data from scanned documents, invoices, and forms, making it useful for industries like finance.
Performance Benchmarks
According to benchmarking results from the Qwen team, the top-performing Qwen2.5-VL model surpasses several leading models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash, across various evaluations related to video understanding, math, document analysis, and question-answering.
Stock Price Movement
While other tech stocks were in the red during the market sell-off, Alibaba’s stock closed in positive territory. It gained 6.71% the following day as more investors learned of the announcement. The upward trend continued in the days that followed, reflecting growing market optimism around the new AI model.
Trump Media ($DJT) Enters Financial Services Industry
$DJT has been in the spotlight over the past weeks, with several significant events surrounding the company, including President Trump’s inauguration which boosted the stock price in the days prior to the ceremony, and the launch of Trump’s meme coin which had a negative impact on the $DJT stock. This week, $DJT takes the spotlight again with the company announcing its expansion into financial services through the launch of Truth.Fi brand, marking a significant strategic shift into FinTech and investment products.
The company plans to allocate up to $250 million of its over $700 million cash reserves into various investment vehicles, partnering with Charles Schwab as custodian. They claim this initiative will strengthen what they call the “Patriot Economy” through America-First investment principles.
Investment Products and Services:
- Investment Vehicles: The company will offer customized separately managed accounts (SMAs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
- Cryptocurrency Integration: Plans include investments in Bitcoin and other crypto-related securities.
- Strategic Partnerships: Charles Schwab will serve as custodian and advisor, while Yorkville Advisors will act as the Registered Investment Adviser.
- Focus on American Growth: Investment strategy targets U.S. manufacturing, energy companies, and the “Patriot Economy.”
Strategic Vision: According to TMTG CEO Devin Nunes, Truth.Fi represents a natural expansion of the Truth Social movement, adding financial services to their existing social media and streaming platforms. The company positions this move as protection against what they describe as “cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations” by Big Tech companies.
The company expects to roll out Truth.Fi products and services throughout 2025, pending necessary regulatory approvals and finalization of partnership agreements.
Stock Price Movement
$DJT stock initially jumped by more than 15% in pre-market trading on the day of the announcement and closed the day with a 6.75% gain. The stock traded in negative territory the following day.
$UPS Stock Drops After Strategic Shifts
UPS stock dropped sharply following the company’s earnings release, which included several significant strategic actions. The most notable of these was the decision to reduce shipping volumes from its largest customer by over 50% by the second half of 2026. Although the company did not officially name the customer, it is widely speculated to be Amazon, given their historical relationship and Amazon’s growing logistical independence.
Key Strategic Actions Announced:
- Volume Reduction Agreement: UPS has reached an agreement in principle with its largest customer to substantially lower shipment volumes. This move has sparked investor concerns about the long-term impact on revenue.
- Insourcing of UPS SurePost: Starting January 1, 2025, UPS will fully insource its SurePost service, which was previously reliant on the United States Postal Service for final delivery. This shift aims to improve control over delivery operations but signals a broader change in UPS’s operational strategy.
- Network Reconfiguration and Cost-Saving Initiatives: The company unveiled its “Efficiency Reimagined” program, targeting approximately $1 billion in savings through comprehensive process redesigns across its U.S. network over the next several years.
Stock Price Movement
UPS stock closed the day down 14% after the earnings announcement.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. The content is based on publicly available information and reflects the author’s opinions as of the publication date, which may change without notice. All investments carry inherent risks, including the potential loss of principal, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research or consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions. BBAE holds no position in the securities mentioned, nor are they compensated by the companies mentioned.
