Biggest Stock Movers Today, Dec. 1: BHC, SMR, & More

Often, stock markets perform well to start a new month, as automated monthly investments from 401(k) plans and individual investors provide some buying pressure. However, December didn't get off to a good start on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC), Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), and S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) were all down on the day, although they all recovered from much larger gains early in the trading session.

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

As always, though, there were plenty of winners and losers among individual stocks on Monday. Here are some of the more important stocks that made big moves on the day.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Top Stock Gainers Today

BHC: +11%

Bausch Health (NYSE: BHC) was one of the best performers among major stocks on Monday. The Canada-based pharmaceutical company announced that its Solta Medical aesthetics subsidiary had completed its acquisition of China's Wuhan Shibo Zhenmei Technology, which is the aesthetics distribution arm of the Shibo Group. Historically, Shibo has served as Solta's distribution partner for the past 10 years, and so the acquisition essentially vertically integrates distribution into Bausch's broader business. Bausch hopes that the purchase will help it expand more effectively into the lucrative Chinese market, and investors seemed inclined to agree.

ASH: +11%

Also ranking among the top stock market gainers on Monday was Ashland (NYSE: ASH). The maker of specialty food ingredients, architectural coatings, and a wide range of other products in several different industries found itself the target of potential investor activism, as Standard Investments revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had taken a nearly 6% stake in Ashland. In the filing, Standard used standard activist language, saying it intended to look to boost shareholder value by working with management on business strategy and other matters. With the stock still off 19% year to date, it's clear that shareholders are hoping for positive change.

Top Stock Losers Today

SMR: -10%

Nuclear power specialist NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) was a top stock loser on Monday, continuing to lose ground after seeing its shares lose half their value in November. Investors have been having trouble figuring out whether the boom in demand for electricity among AI data-center operators will result in renewed efforts to bolster nuclear power. The problem investors face is that it will take many years for proposed nuclear projects to go through the approval and construction process, and there's always a chance that something will happen to push power-hungry data centers in a different direction. That doesn't mean that NuScale couldn't end up being a big winner in the long run, but it does mean that shareholders will have to be patient and endure plenty of volatility along the way.

BMNR: -13%

Finally, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSEMKT: BMNR) was one of the larger losing stocks in the market. Bitmine Immersion has recently emerged as a cryptocurrency treasury company focusing on Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and its large investment in the digital asset lost significant value on Monday. Ethereum has fallen sharply from its highs earlier this year, and today's drop of roughly 8% for the second-largest cryptocurrency didn't do Bitmine Immersion any favors. Indeed, with Bitmine Immersion and other crypto treasury companies facing new questions about the sustainability of the long-term bull market in digital assets and the potential impact of leverage-induced liquidations among major holders, shareholders seem to be souring a bit on the overall strategy that these crypto investing vehicles have followed.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum. The Motley Fool recommends Bausch Health Companies and NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.