Stock Trading
Apr. 21, 202520 min read

Top Stocks to Watch in April 2025

Tim BohenAvatar
Written by Tim Bohen Reviewed by Jeff Zananiri Fact-checked by Ben Sturgill

My top stocks to watch in May 2025 have the kind of volatility that smart traders target. Every day, week, and month I survey the entire market, looking for stocks that are trending in one direction or another. Our job is to identify the stocks that have the potential to make moves and be ready to trade them if those opportunities come about.

7 Top Stocks To Watch

My top stock watchlist picks for April 2025 — based on pattern, price action, and catalyst — include the following:

Stock Ticker Company Performance (YTD)
NASDAQ: MLGO MicroAlgo Inc + 18.54%
NASDAQ: APLD Applied Digital Corp – 1.15%
NASDAQ: TRNR Interactive Strength Inc – 9.03%
NASDAQ: MARA Marathon Digital Holdings Inc – 21.01%
AMEX: KULR KULR Technology Group Inc – 56.24%
NASDAQ: RGTI Rigetti Computing Inc – 58.25%
NASDAQ: NVDA NVIDIA Corp – 13.10%

The penny stocks on this list are some of the craziest movers on the market …

Only trade these stocks if you have a solid plan and an understanding of the risks involved. I don’t trade until I see a setup I like.

Jump ahead to get to my trading plans for these top penny stocks!

Top Stocks to Watch Today

My top 7 stock picks are:

  • NASDAQ: MLGO — MicroAlgo Inc — The Short Squeeze AI Penny Stock 
  • NASDAQ: APLD — Applied Digital Corp — The AI Penny Stock That NVIDIA Is Still Invested In
  • NASDAQ: TRNR — Interactive Strength Inc. — The Fitness Penny Stock With Acquisition News
  • NASDAQ: MARA — Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. — The Bitcoin Miner Betting Big on AI
  • AMEX: KULR — KULR Technology Group Inc. — The Low Float Momentum Play With a Side Of Bitcoin Volatility
  • NASDAQ: RGTI — Rigetti Computing Inc. — The Former Quantum Supernova That Could Go Either Way
  • NASDAQ: NVDA — NVIDIA Corp — The AI Earnings Winner That Couldn’t Stop the Sell-Off

Remember — we’re traders, not investors. You need to keep that mentality in mind even if you’re a swing trader.

That means:

  • Always having a trading plan — and sticking to it.
  • If a stock drops below risk, you need to sell. Only losers hold onto losers.

There are some stocks on this watchlist that are day trade only. Holding onto these volatile small-cap stocks overnight can lead to some nasty surprises, like when a biotech penny stock does a new share offering to cash in on its gains.

These penny stocks aren’t directly impacted by the larger market …

But over the years I’ve noticed an indirect relationship that’s important to understand.

When major indices show strength, it leads to more plays in the penny stock niche.

We still only want to trade the best setups. Here they are … 

MicroAlgo Inc (NASDAQ: MLGO) — The Short Squeeze AI Penny Stock 

My first stock pick is MicroAlgo Inc (NASDAQ: MLGO).

On Friday, February 21, we watched MicroAlgo Inc. (NASDAQ: MLGO) spike 910%*!

From less than $2 per share to over $11 per share … 

I wasn’t surprised. We see a massive short squeeze like this every month, among smaller squeezes from week to week.

There are too many short sellers in the market right now. When they all focus on one crappy stock, it can push the price even higher as they’re squeezed out.

Short squeezes can offer perfect trade opportunities for long-biased traders.

But it can be difficult for new traders to recognize a short squeeze.

Usually, there isn’t a visible catalyst. That’s what causes so many short sellers to target the stock. It’s spiking without any news … Logically the price should fall lower.

As it spikes higher, short sellers get even more stubborn about their positions. They keep reentering at the highs and keep blowing up.

Look for stocks spiking more than 100% on the day without any news.

  • There wasn’t any news during the MLGO spike.

It also helps when the stock has a low float. The low supply of shares will exacerbate the short squeeze issue.

  • StocksToTrade shows that the MLGO float was only 6.3 million shares.

This was a perfect short squeeze candidate.

Study this stock and get ready for the next one.

Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ: APLD) — The AI Penny Stock That NVIDIA Is Still Invested In

My second stock pick is Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ: APLD).

On September 5, 2024, APLD started moving with news that NVIDIA (among other investors) bought a stake in the stock.

We’ve seen NVIDIA investments act as strong catalysts before … 

  • Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ: SERV)
  • SoundHound AI Inc. (NASDAQ: SOUN)

NVDA is still arguably the most popular AI stock in the U.S. market.

It holds a $3 trillion valuation. And it’s positioned to continue its dominance in the microchip industry.

Penny stocks like APLD have a lot to gain from NVIDIA’s investment announcements.

APLD was trading under $4 in September 2024, before the market learned of the NVIDIA investment.

Share prices reached $12 a few months later, on February 21, 2025. It spiked 280%* in total.

The price fell from those highs in late February, but NVIDIA is still holding onto APLD shares. 

That bullish sentiment means that we could see a rally from this stock in April.

Interactive Strength Inc. (NASDAQ: TRNR) — The Fitness Penny Stock With Acquisition News

My third stock pick is Interactive Strength Inc. (NASDAQ: TRNR).

This isn’t just another random penny stock. TRNR made waves with news of its planned acquisition of Sportstech, a fitness equipment company with a solid footprint in Europe. Traders love a good acquisition story — especially when it comes with raised revenue guidance for the year. The company’s now targeting $50 million in revenue for 2025, which is a big step up for a stock that was basically off the radar a month ago.

The big spike came after the deal was announced, but now we’re watching to see if TRNR can actually hold the gains and start to build a real trend. I like the ambition here — but ambition doesn’t pay bills. Execution does. If TRNR starts slipping back toward pre-news levels, this could turn into just another overhyped runner that gave it all back.

For now, I’m watching for signs that it can hold higher lows and attract real volume — not just short-term momentum traders piling in and out. If the deal closes and we see some actual numbers to back up the hype, this could stay interesting.

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) — The Bitcoin Miner Betting Big on AI

My fourth stock pick is Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA).

Next up is Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), one of the most well-known crypto stocks on the market.

MARA crushed earnings — no other way to say it. Revenue jumped 37%, Bitcoin production is still strong, and the company stacked 18,146 new Bitcoin onto its balance sheet in Q4 alone. That’s a serious pile of digital gold.

But here’s the real twist — MARA isn’t just mining Bitcoin anymore. Management is talking up plans to become the infrastructure layer for AI inference — essentially positioning their data centers to handle the massive computing power AI apps require. It’s an ambitious pivot, but it makes sense. AI and Bitcoin both rely on serious hardware, and MARA wants to monetize that capacity every way they can.

The stock popped after earnings, and with Bitcoin pushing toward all-time highs, MARA has wind at its back. That said, Bitcoin miners are notoriously volatile, and this one loves to give back gains when the broader market pulls back.

For now, I’m watching to see if MARA can hold its post-earnings spike and build a higher base. If Bitcoin breaks out again, MARA could ride the wave. If Bitcoin stalls, this thing could easily fade. It’s a classic sector-sympathy trade — just with more headlines.

KULR Technology Group Inc. (AMEX: KULR) — The Low Float Momentum Play With a Side Of Bitcoin Volatility

My fifth stock pick is KULR Technology Group Inc. (AMEX: KULR).

KULR is your typical shifty penny stock. Officially, they’re in the thermal management business, making cooling tech for batteries and high-performance electronics…

But lately? KULR’s been acting more like a Bitcoin holding company. They’ve been selling stock like crazy, using the proceeds to buy Bitcoin for their corporate treasury. That strategy worked wonders for MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) — but KULR is no MicroStrategy.

Traders are watching KULR because of the combination of speculative buzz and actual partnerships — like the deal they signed with Worksport to enhance battery tech and US manufacturing. They’ve also got an AI cooling partnership in Taiwan with EDOM Technology. That’s enough to keep this on the radar.

If Bitcoin pulls back — or if KULR keeps flooding the market with new shares — this could unravel fast. For now, I’m treating this like a low float momentum play with a side of Bitcoin volatility. It’s not an investment. It’s a trade — and a risky one at that.

Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ: RGTI) — The Former Quantum Supernova That Could Go Either Way

My sixth stock pick is Rigetti Computing Inc (NASDAQ: RGTI).

This is a quantum stock that plunged in early January, alongside the rest of the sector. The selloff on these quantum computing stocks came after Jensen Huang’s comments about the industry on January 8, when the NVDA CEO said practical quantum computing is still many years away. That hit the entire sector hard.

But among all the quantum names, RGTI bounced back the strongest — which made it the clear sector leader for a while.

That leadership is being tested again after IonQ’s earnings report on February 26. IonQ beat revenue expectations, but the numbers also reminded traders that real profits are still way off in the future. RGTI dropped immediately in sympathy — falling from the low $10s to just above $8 — a level it hasn’t traded at since mid-January.

It’s not just about one earnings report. This is a gut check moment for the whole quantum sector. Traders ran these stocks up huge in late 2024, betting on breakthroughs and hype. But now, we’re seeing reality creep back in.

Even so, I’m not counting RGTI out. It’s still one of the most recognizable names in the space, and it has a history of big moves. Past spikers can spike again — especially in a sector with this much speculative interest.

And don’t forget the bullish catalyst from Microsoft on February 19. That’s when they announced the Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum processor powered by topological qubits. Microsoft says this chip could bring real quantum computing to the market in years, not decades.

That news gave the sector a quick bounce, but it wasn’t enough to fully reverse the downtrend. It could still spark a fresh wave of momentum — especially if Rigetti can land a new contract or partnership to get traders excited again.

NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) — The AI Earnings Winner That Couldn’t Stop the Sell-Off

My seventh stock pick is NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA).

We’ve already spoken about NVDA in this watchlist as a catalyst. Now let’s talk about it as a trade opportunity.

On February 26 during after hours, NVDA announced quarterly earnings that beat expectations.

— Earnings per share came in at $0.89, beating expectations by $0.04.
— Revenue hit $39.33 billion, topping estimates by $1.17 billion.

The data is extremely bullish.

But we’ve seen NVDA stock reject bullish earnings before, simply because the market’s expectations were far greater than analysts’.

Even though NVDA’s numbers looked strong, the stock couldn’t escape the gravity of a broader AI sector sell-off. On February 27, NVIDIA shares dropped more than 8%, dragging the entire semiconductor and AI space down with it.

This wasn’t just about NVIDIA. It was about sky-high expectations finally meeting reality — and traders realizing that AI spending might not keep accelerating forever.

We saw the Nasdaq Composite drop nearly 3%, with the semiconductor index itself falling 6%. Other big names like Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) and Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) took a beating, down double digits on the day.

Part of this sell-off is tied to growing fears about tighter U.S. restrictions on AI chip exports to China. That would directly hit NVIDIA’s revenue — and the uncertainty alone is enough to rattle traders.

The entire AI industry is shifting. We’re not just talking about training huge models anymore. The focus is increasingly on inference — the process of actually using those models in real-world applications. And inference demands different kinds of hardware.

NVIDIA saw this coming.

Their new Blackwell platform is designed with inference in mind. It’s bigger, faster, and optimized for reasoning models — the type of AI that “thinks” through complex problems step by step. Blackwell’s ability to link together in massive networks gives it a serious edge in inference, and early sales of Blackwell are already leaning toward inference-heavy workloads.

This is a classic NVIDIA move — they saw where the industry was going and adjusted before anyone else. But staying ahead won’t be easy. Startups like Cerebras, Groq, and SambaNova are building specialized inference chips. Big tech companies like Google and Meta are working on their own custom hardware. Even AMD is trying to carve out a bigger role in inference.

NVIDIA is still the king — but the crown isn’t as secure as it used to be.

That’s why this earnings beat wasn’t enough to satisfy Wall Street. Traders see a tougher road ahead, filled with regulatory risks, competitive pressures, and changing technology.

For traders, this is a perfect wait-and-see situation. Look for a clear momentum direction during the first few days after NVDA’s earnings announcement. And use IRIS to build smart positions using AI.

There’s a solid breakout level at $150 per share. Keep an eye on that resistance.

 

*Past performance does not indicate future results

Top Stocks Under $5

Hot sector penny stocks — whether we’re talking AI penny stocks, biotech penny stocks, or another sector attracting a lot of news — are something traders should always be looking at. The allure lies in the potential for substantial returns on investment, as even minor developments or positive news within these sectors can lead to significant price jumps.

It’s important to proceed with caution and a well-thought-out strategy. The inherent volatility of penny stocks, combined with the speculative nature of emerging sectors like renewable energy and tech innovations, underscores the importance of a meticulous approach. Before diving in, ensure you’ve done your due diligence, looking past the initial excitement to assess the true potential and risks of these ventures. It’s wise to trade these stocks rather than invest long-term, given their unpredictable nature.

Success in trading hot sector stocks priced under $5 hinges on a selective and strategic approach. The goal is to tap into their explosive growth potential while implementing robust risk management practices. By zeroing in on companies making news in their specific niches, traders can seize opportunities for disproportionate gains. This strategy, coupled with a disciplined approach to maintaining a tight investment strategy and promptly cutting losses, can pave the way for trading success in these dynamic market segments.

What Do You Need to Trade Stocks?

The biggest thing you need to become a self-sufficient trader is something money can’t buy…

Patience.

Everything else is easy enough to come by.

Most brokers don’t charge commissions when you buy listed stocks — which is every stock on this list.

You can see the brokers I recommend here.

What else do you need?

You’ll need a trading computer and decent internet. You’ll also need a powerful trading platform like StocksToTrade…

StocksToTrade puts top-of-the-line charts and stock screening at your fingertips. It’s got a built-in news scanner that puts earnings reports and news that move stocks in one place.

 

We think you’ll see the difference immediately. Get your first 14 days here for only $7.

Then comes the hard part…

You need to learn patterns. You need to find out which strategies work for you. You need to put in screen time…

Paper trading is a good way to get your feet wet. StocksToTrade can do that too.

You need to make trading plans and track your trades. I know, it’s a lot. That’s why I’ve designed the best mentorship program out there — Daily Income Trader.

Our trading community will bring you live webinars, strategy sessions, and the chance to ask questions of me and other top traders.

My goal is to teach you how to think for yourself and trade through any kind of market.

Here’s one of the biggest things I teach you to do… 

How to Find Your Top Stocks to Watch: 5 Tips for Every Day

The best traders don’t believe in ‘hot stocks.’ They watch what the market is doing every single day.

There’s no trick to it. Building a daily watchlist comes down to five easy steps.

#1: Run Your Scans

You know what’s moving by setting your stock screener to pick up the right stocks.

I run scans all through premarket, looking for stocks up at least 10%, on decent volume and a catalyst that isn’t complete garbage.

The market is a game of supply and demand. A stock screener is the best way of measuring that demand.

#2: Know Your Catalysts

Crappy penny stocks will always have press releases and celebrity tweets when they’re running. It’s your job to know what’s fluff and what isn’t.

Luckily, it isn’t hard. Is the market reacting well to it? Then it’s probably decent news.

We have an add-on service specifically dedicated to the news that moves stocks. It’s called Breaking News Chat — and it can be your secret weapon. 

#3: Study the Charts

Studying charts can be the difference between randomly trading a stock and seeing a good entry.

How do I know that most days TSLA starts the day red it often finishes green? It’s because I’ve studied its charts.

#4: Look for Volume

Volume is the biggest indicator of price action.

You can trade a stock move with no news. But you probably don’t want to make a trade with no volume.

This is another thing to study when you’re looking at a chart.

Take a look at a stock’s biggest moves. How much volume does it get when it’s making a move? 

#5: Learn From Other Traders

Never copy another trader’s trades. If you’re last in on a trade, you’ll only make money by luck. And you sure won’t learn to trade for yourself.

The training we offer at StocksToTrade is designed to help you become a self-sufficient trader. We show you how we come up with our trade ideas, we don’t give them to you.

Profit and loss isn’t the mark of a good trader. It’s the planning and execution you put in.

We can help you get there in a few different ways:

Conclusion

I’ve shown you the work that goes into building a watchlist…

And I hope I’ve scared you enough that you don’t take these picks as recommendations!

Trading is something you do at the same time as millions of other people. Having stock picks is as silly as taking cue cards on a date…

And it works about as well.

Your trading success doesn’t depend on any ‘secrets’ I can tell you. The only thing it depends on is you learning about your own trading style.

Treat this watchlist as a starting point. Keep on working on your own watchlists until they fit the way you trade.

What do you think about the stocks I’m watching this month? Have you traded any of them? Let me know in the comments!