The stock market was very sharply mixed on Tuesday, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -1.49%) took the brunt of the damage. Even as the Dow Jones Industrials were up triple digits, the Nasdaq fell almost 2% as of 1:45 p.m. ET.
Investors looking at the biggest stocks in the Nasdaq would have to go through three dozen stocks on the list before finding a single one that rose more than 1%. Many of the top tech giants were down 1% to 5% or more on the day. Yet there were some winning Nasdaq stocks, and a few in particular might seem surprising to those used to seeing more popular names among top performers.
Paccar goes electric
Shares of Paccar (PCAR -0.82%) were strong, rising nearly 4% Tuesday afternoon. The commercial truck manufacturer might seem like an unlikely winner, but it released new technology that it will exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
Image source: Getty Images.
Paccar will show three different vehicles. The Kenworth T680E battery electric truck shows how far the company has come in electric vehicle (EV) technology, with 150 miles of range and a fast charging time. Meanwhile, its DAF XG includes the Paccar Connect global connected truck platform, while the Peterbilt 579 has Paccar's autonomous self-driving system through its partnership with Aurora Innovation (AUR -5.45%).
Investors are pleased that Paccar is keeping up with the times, and its stock is rising along with many other industrial companies. The mix of innovation and rugged determination looks appealing to shareholders on a tough day.
Marriott defies the pandemic
Hotel giant Marriott International (MAR -1.01%) also managed to move ahead, climbing 3%. Investors seem optimistic about the long-term prospects for the travel industry even with the short-term impacts of a huge surge in COVID-19 cases weighing on sentiment.
Marriott has done well to weather the difficulties involved in keeping properties operating during the pandemic. It's also looking at novel ways to reinforce its brand strength, including a recent foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) world.
Everyone hopes that the latest wave of omicron-variant cases will subside quickly. If that proves to be the case, then losing what is traditionally a fairly low-traffic time of year in the hotel industry might well make no difference at all to Marriott's longer-term prospects.
Food for thought
Finally, a couple of stocks in the food industry were higher on Tuesday. Kraft Heinz (KHC 0.43%) picked up more than 2%, while Mondelez International (MDLZ 0.60%) was up a bit less than 1%.
Investors in general have been looking for stable income, and Kraft in particular is attractive from a dividend standpoint with its 4.5% yield. Meanwhile, Mondelez has taken a more measured approach toward using its capital, engaging in numerous mergers and acquisitions to try to build up its product lineup and stay on the cutting edge of the industry.
Both brand-name giants have the pricing power to pass higher costs of key ingredients through to consumers. That's something that weaker players can't match, and the resulting squeeze should give both Kraft and Mondelez a competitive advantage.
Tech trouble
When high-tech stocks are falling, it's natural to look for alternatives elsewhere. Yet many investors never think to look at other Nasdaq stocks. These four surprise winners show that even when tech is sliding, you don't have to give up on the Nasdaq entirely.
