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The major indexes had a pretty quiet Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.47% to close at 48,362.68, the S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to 6,878.49, and the Nasdaq added 0.5% to finish at 23,428.82. But if you were watching individual stocks, quiet wasn't exactly the word you'd use.
Here are five names that captured retail investor attention with big moves and even bigger news.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares barely budged during regular trading, inching up just 0.01% to close at $48.10. The stock traded between $47.59 and $48.22 during the session, sitting well below its 52-week high of $93.80. But then came the after-hours action: shares rocketed nearly 9.5% to $52.66.
The catalyst? The FDA approved Novo Nordisk's once-daily Wegovy pill, making it the first oral GLP-1 therapy authorized in the United States for long-term weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction. This is kind of a big deal. Until now, patients have had to rely on injectable versions of these blockbuster weight-loss medications.
The approval was based on results from the OASIS trial program, where patients taking oral semaglutide 25 mg achieved an average weight loss of 16.6%. Even more impressive, about one-third of participants lost 20% or more of their body weight. The company said the pill's safety profile was consistent with injectable Wegovy, with comparable efficacy. Novo Nordisk expects to launch the oral Wegovy in the U.S. in early January 2026.
Starfighters Space (FJET) absolutely exploded on Monday, skyrocketing 372.97% to close at $31.50. The stock hit an intraday high of $31.50 and a low of $6.40, with a 52-week range of $31.50 to $5.99. Things cooled off a bit after hours, with shares dropping 23.75% to $24.02.
The company began trading following its IPO, which was priced at $3.59 and raised $40 million to fund hypersonic research and satellite launch operations. Heavy trading volume accompanied the surge, and the rally came amid broader momentum across the space sector, driven by major defense contracts and growing investor enthusiasm for aerospace and space-related IPOs.
D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) climbed 20.07% to close at $32.19, trading between $27.62 and $32.39 during the session. The stock's 52-week range spans from $3.74 to $46.75.
U.S. markets saw a late-December "Santa Rally" driven largely by retail investors rotating into high-beta quantum computing names as institutional activity thinned for the holidays. D-Wave was right in the middle of it, with shares jumping after the company announced its Advantage2 system will feature prominently at CES 2026. Other quantum firms like Rigetti, IonQ, and Quantum Computing Inc. also posted gains on a mix of social media momentum, analyst optimism, and recent corporate developments.
The rally reflected both seasonal trading dynamics and growing retail expectations that commercial quantum applications could accelerate as early as 2026. Whether that's realistic or just holiday optimism remains to be seen.
Sidus Space (SIDU) jumped 96.98% to close at $2.28, nearly doubling in a single session. The stock reached an intraday high of $2.59 and a low of $1.80, with a 52-week range between $0.63 and $6.75. After hours, reality set in a bit as shares dropped 39.2%.
The defense technology company was selected as a contract awardee under the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's SHIELD IDIQ program. The contract supports the Golden Dome missile defense strategy, which integrates air, missile, cyber, and space-based threats and was introduced in early 2025.
ZIM Integrated Shipping (ZIM) rose 3.27% during regular trading to close at $19.88. The stock traded between $19.30 and $20.14, with a 52-week range of $11.04 to $23.61. In extended trading, shares surged 11.7% to $22.20.
The shipping company revealed it received multiple competitive proposals from strategic parties to acquire all outstanding shares. The board confirmed it's evaluating the offers as part of an ongoing strategic review that includes a potential sale and other capital allocation options. ZIM also disclosed it rejected a separate proposal from an entity owned by CEO Eli Glickman after determining it undervalued the company.
Monday might have been a sleepy day for the indexes, but these five stocks showed there's always action somewhere if you know where to look.
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