No. 4: American International Group Inc. (AIG)
Shares of the insurance giant jumped as much as 4% immediately after Wednesday trading concluded, going from the close of $54.41 to $56.56. During the session, AIG stock managed to eke out a miniscule 0.1% gain from the previous close of $54.38. At that post-market level, shares are now up 43.5% in 2019 since settling at $39.41 on Dec. 31.
As with every other firm on this list, investors moved the stock based on newly released earnings. AIG reported $1.43 per share, surpassing analysts’ expected $1.15 by more than 24%. CEO Brian Duperreault said in a statement that, “General Insurance achieved its second consecutive quarter of underwriting profitability resulting from underwriting and expense discipline, and reinsurance actions, and remains on track to deliver an underwriting profit for the full year.”
No. 3: Assurant Inc. (AIZ)
Assurant — an insurance and risk-management firm with an emphasis on property insurance — rallied 7.5% on Wednesday from $109.63 to a close of $117.89. With that, shares have now surged nearly 32% this year from the Dec. 31 close of $89.44.
Investors were galvanized by Assurant’s second-quarter financials, which surpassed both top- and bottom-line estimates. The firm reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.34, beating analyst expectations by a strong 9.9%. Year-over-year revenue growth was the strongest area of the report, with the $2.5 billion during the April-June period up 38% from Q2 2018. That also smashed Wall Street’s expectations by 7.7%.
No. 2: Roku Inc. (ROKU)
Roku — which manufactures a set-top box that provides cable and streaming content — saw its stock rocket as high as 10.4% from the day’s close of $100.97 to $111.50 after the Wednesday bell. Before that, shares of ROKU had already gained 2.5% during the session from $98.48 to a close of $100.97. Accounting for the $111.50 share price, the stock now boasts a gargantuan year-to-date gain of 264% from the $30.64 settlement on Dec. 31.
Shares rallied following the release of the firm’s better-than-expected second-quarter earnings after the Wednesday bell. Roku reported a loss per share of $0.08 on revenue of $250 million, while analysts had expected a loss of $0.22 per share on revenue of $224 million. In a letter to shareholders, executives noted how the firm’s “ongoing investment in areas of competitive differentiation continue to drive growth and attract users, advertisers and content publishers.”
No. 1: Lyft Inc. (LYFT)
Shares of the ride-hailing firm climbed as much as 13% in the first hour of post-market trading on Wednesday following a 2.7% gain to $60.29 during the session. However, the double-digit rally eventually pared back as the evening went on, with the stock up just over 7% to $64.51 by about 5:45 p.m. EST. Even at $64.51, LYFT stock still trades near its highest level ever as a public company despite being down more than 10% from the $72 IPO price.
Investors were reacting enthusiastically to the company’s Q2 earnings report, which handily surpassed Wall Street expectations. The firm lost $0.68 per share, not nearly as rough as the loss of $1.74 per share that analysts anticipated. Revenue clocked in at $867 million, beating the estimated $809 million by 7.2%. Lyft also said it expects full-year 2019 revenue to land somewhere between $3.47 billion and $3.5 billion, marking an upward revision from the previous $3.275-$3.3 billion range.
