Weekly Winners | Warner Bros. Soars 56%; Oracle Surges 26%; Micron Jumps 20%; Tesla Gains Nearly 13%; Palantir, UnitedHealth Rally Around 12%

This week, which stocks lagged or dragged? Weekly Winners column keeps up with market trends, helping Tigers sort out the week's hottest sectors, stock winners and important news.

Below are top 10 S&P 500 stock gainers for the week ended September 5:

Warner Bros. and Paramount Skydance Shares Jump on Buyout Reports

Shares in Warner Brothers Discovery surged 55.82% this week while Paramount Skydance rallied 25.27% following reports that Paramount Skydance is preparing an offer to buy the rival studio.

The reported bid would be for the entire Warner Brothers Discovery business, which includes news network CNN, HBO, and the film studio behind Barbie and Harry Potter.

The deal would mark further consolidation in the US media industry, which has been dramatically reshaped by the rise of streaming, and comes as media firms face scrutiny from President Donald Trump's administration.

Oracle Stock Soars More Than 25% on Strong AI Backlog

Oracle shares surged by as much as 25.51% this week after the software company said it won several billion-dollar contracts in its latest quarter. The wins revealed a bigger foothold in the booming artificial-intelligence race than was previously understood.

The database-software company has $455 billion in outstanding contract revenue that it expects to collect for the latest quarter that ended in Aug. 31. Those performance obligations were up more than fourfold from the same quarter last year.

Oracle signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers during the quarter, Chief Executive Safra Catz told analysts and investors.

Micron Soars Nearly 20% as Citi Expects Its Guidance Could Surprise

Micron Technology stock gained nearly 20% this week. Micron is set to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings later this month, and analysts believe the chip maker could issue guidance that tops even the loftiest expectations on Wall Street.

While earnings and revenue will likely meet forecasts, Micron’s first-quarter outlook could come in well above consensus as a result of higher sales and pricing for DRAM and NAND flash memory, Citi Research analysts wrote Thursday.

“We believe the continued memory upturn is being driven by limited production and better than expected demand, particularly from the data center end market,” the Citi team added, noting that this market comprises more than half of Micron’s revenue.

Tesla Soars Nearly 13% as Investors Appeared More Optimistic about the Outlook

Tesla stock rose nearly 13% this week as investors suddenly appeared more optimistic about the outlook. It’s also possible that traders are in control of the recent rally. The move helped in part by in-line inflation data that solidified investors’ belief that rate cuts are coming. Auto companies like lower rates because cars are generally financed.

Fundamentally-minded investors might have a role in the rally, too: They could be feeling better about third-quarter EV sales. U.S. buyers could try to beat the removal of the $7,500 federal purchase tax credit, which goes away at the end of September. The credit was eliminated by President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill passed on July 4.

“Tesla hosted a sell-side call with the Special Committee of the Board to discuss the recent CEO compensation proposal,” wrote TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli on Thursday. “We walked away with a clearer view of the proposals. The Product and [earnings] milestones outlined in the proxy seem well-aligned with our Tesla autonomous vehicle thesis…leaving us more confident about the long-term trajectory.” He rates shares Buy and has a $374 price target for the stock.

Palantir Jumps 12% on Cramer Endorsement and UK Defense Partnership With Hadean

Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies saw its shares climb 12% this week, following an endorsement from market commentator Jim Cramer, who reaffirmed his optimistic outlook and $200 price target for the company.

Palantir also announced a partnership with UK defense tech company Hadean to deliver simulation and AI products to the UK Armed Forces. Under this new agreement, Hadean's wargaming, command and control, and battlefield training products will be integrated with Palantir's Foundry software, facilitating seamless integration with the Ministry of Defence's current data systems.

This development complements Palantir's strong recent performance, with significant growth in both government and commercial sectors. In the latest quarter, U.S. commercial revenue surged by 93% year-over-year, while U.S. government revenue grew 53%.

UnitedHealth Rallies 12% as It Sees 78% of Members in High-Rated Medicare Plans

UnitedHealth expects about 78% of its members to be enrolled in top-rated Medicare insurance plans next year, in line with its expectations, the top U.S. health insurer said in a filing on Tuesday.

Shares of the company were up 12% this week, as strong membership for plans with higher star ratings would mean bigger payments from the government to the insurer, and the bonus payments can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.

The estimate of memberships in 4-star or higher-rated Medicare Advantage plans, which cover Americans aged 65 years or older, is consistent with the company's expectations and in line with historical performance, UnitedHealth said.