These 5 High-Growth Small-Cap Stocks Surged More Than 100% In Q1: What's Next?

The S&P 500 index, which is tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, posted a gain of 6.2% in the first quarter of 2023, while technology stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index, which is tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ, fared much better by posting a 20% increase in the quarter, also marking the third-best quarterly performance since the dot-com boom in 2001.

Which U.S. stocks have performed the best so far in 2023? And what kind of upside potential do they still offer in the following quarters? Is the Wall Street analyst consensus in agreement with current market valuations?

Benzinga answered these questions by screening stocks having a market valuation of at least $1 billion and ranked them by Q1 total returns. Here's what we discovered.

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The Five Top Performing U.S. Stocks in Q1 2023

5) Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. MARA

• Marathon Digital Holdings is a digital asset mining technology company with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the development of digital assets. 
• The company grew by 143% in the first quarter, owing to a 50% quarterly gain in the overall crypto market value, which increased to 1.15 trillion at the conclusion of the quarter.
• A short squeeze phenomenon was another factor that most likely led to the company's extraordinary rise. Marathon Digital Holdings was one of the most shorted companies in the market at the start of the year, with a short interest of 43%. Once sellers were forced to liquidate positions and purchase back stock amid strong price momentum, the unwinding of those short bets likely exacerbated the bullish surge. By the conclusion of the quarter, short interest in MARA had dropped to 27%.
• Marathon trades at a discount of 30% versus the average analysts’ price target. Analyst Gianni Di Poce recently said the company could rise 47% as the shares are undervalued.

4) Oscar Health Inc OSCR

• Oscar Health, Inc., formerly known as Mulberry Health Inc., is a health insurance company in the U.S. that created +Oscar, a technology-driven platform meant to help providers and payors directly support their shift to value-based care.
• Oscar Health rose by 170% in the first quarter of 2023. The company skyrocketed in the last days of the quarter on the heels of better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and the appointment of former Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini.
• The newly hired CEO believes the firm can provide digital tools to assist doctors and health systems engage with patients and manage their treatment.
• Oscar Health is trading at a 22% price premium to the average analyst price target.

3) C3.ai Inc AI

• C3.ai, Inc., formerly known as C3 IoT, Inc., operates as an enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software company providing a wide range of AI applications.
• C3.ai delivered a 191% return in the first quarter of 2023. However, the stock still trades 65% lower from its IPO.
• In February, C3.ai saw an increase in the short interest by market participants to 22%, after the short-seller Spruce Point Capital questioned its profitability.
• C3.ai is trading at a 40% premium to the average analyst price target.

2) Riot Platforms Inc RIOT

• Riot Platform is a bitcoin mining firm that operates in three segments: Bitcoin mining, data center hosting and engineering. The firm also offers co-location services to large-scale bitcoin mining enterprises.

• Riot Platforms rose 195% in the first quarter of the year, but continues to be 85% lower than its all-time high reached in February of 2021. The rise in bitcoin prices (up nearly 70% in the first quarter) was one of the key bullish driver for the stock.

• The short interest is currently around 19% and the stock is broadly in line with the average analyst price target

  See the latest analysis on Riot Platform: This Bitcoin-Mining Stock Surged Over 47% In 1 Month: But Options Market Has Something Else To Say

1) Biomea Fusions Inc BMEA

• Biomea Fusion is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm specializing in the research and development of covalent small molecule medicines for the treatment of patients with genetically defined cancers and metabolic diseases.

• BMF-219, an orally bioavailable, powerful, and specific covalent inhibitor, is its primary product candidate for treating patients with liquid and solid tumors, as well as type 2 diabetes.

• Biomea Fusions increased 272% in the first quarter of the year. The vast bulk of the performance occurred on the last day of the quarter, when the company announced positive data from an ongoing phase II trial, indicating that 89% of patients achieved a HbA1c decrease.

• Biomea is selling at a discount to Wall Street analysts' average price target, which is 53% higher than current stock prices.

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