Ticker	Company	Performance (YTD)
NASDAQ: AMD	Advanced Micro Devices	~+90% to +100% YTD (approx)
NASDAQ: NVDA	NVIDIA Corporation	~+35% YTD (approx)
NASDAQ: PLTR	Palantir Technologies	~+140% YTD (approx)

This guide shows you the highly volatile tech names setting the pace, what makes them swing, and how smart traders use data to turn sharp, sudden moves into consistent profit.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD)

When we talk about stocks with frequent price swings, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is a staple for traders seeking exposure to the explosive semiconductor industry.

The company consistently appears among the most active and volatile names on the Nasdaq. Its large price moves are driven by its central role in the hardware market, where demand changes rapidly.

What Tends to Drive Volatility

Chip Cycle News: The market overreacts to every news about the semiconductor supply chain or projected demand. A dip in forecast sales sends the stock lower, while a major contract announcement pushes it up fast.
AI Accelerator Competition: The fierce battle for market share in high-margin AI chips (like the MI300 series) generates massive, immediate moves on competitor or performance news.
Competitive Pressure: The direct rivalry with Intel and NVIDIA means any perceived gain by a competitor causes a sharp price move across the sector.

AMD is a good option for swing traders who track sector news and technical chart patterns. Traders who monitor weekly news reports and understand cyclical trends can capitalize on its large price range.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA)

NVIDIA is the infrastructure of the AI revolution and the bellwether for the entire technology market’s sentiment. Its immense market significance and high trading volume amplify every piece of news, making it a master of major price swings.

What Tends to Drive Volatility

AI/Tech Sentiment: The stock often makes sharp, dramatic moves in response to rapid shifts in investor sentiment about the future of AI.
Earnings Reports: Given its massive size and influence, an earnings beat or miss moves the stock instantly.
Large Investor Interest: Because major institutions own and trade NVDA, their large transactions amplify price swings both up and down.

NVDA is suited for aggressive swing and position traders. You must feel comfortable managing sharp, dramatic moves and wide drawdowns.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR)

Palantir is a software and data analytics giant. Its mix of high-growth potential and reliance on often-unpredictable government contracts makes it inherently volatile.

What Tends to Drive Volatility

Contract News: Announcements about major government or enterprise deals are the primary trigger for large moves. A new contract can push the stock up, but a lost bid can do the reverse.
Quarterly Earnings: Investors dissect Palantir’s revenue mix between government and commercial clients. Any shift in this balance creates volatility.
AI/Analytics Sector Sentiment: As a pure-play AI stock, its price moves heavily based on the overall market’s outlook on artificial intelligence adoption.

Palantir works well for speculative swing trades. Risk-tolerant traders aim for large moves on news catalysts, but they must use disciplined stop-loss orders.

What Causes High Stock Volatility?

Volatility measures how much a stock’s price changes over time. To a trader, high volatility means a chance to make money faster, but it also means greater risk.

Key Metrics Traders Use

Traders use these specific numbers to measure and compare volatility:

Beta: Shows how sensitive a stock is to the overall market (e.g., the S&P 500). A Beta above 1 means the stock typically moves more than the market. Example: A Beta of 1.30 means the stock is expected to be 30% more volatile, moving 1.3% when the market moves 1%.
Average True Range (ATR): Measures the average daily price range in dollars, typically over the last 14 days. This number is key to placing reliable stop losses.
Standard Deviation: Measures the stock’s historical tendency to move away from its average price. A higher Standard Deviation indicates a wider range of possible outcomes (higher risk) and more erratic price swings.

Why Prices Swing Hard

Suddenly, large price swings are caused by real-world events, not just technical charts.

Volume Spikes: High trading volume signals massive institutional buying or selling, pushing prices up or down quickly.
Uncertain News: Global events, new government rules, or changes in interest rates create uncertainty, causing the market to adjust prices sharply.
Sector Sensitivity (Sympathy Play): When one major stock in a sector (like Tech/AI) reports poor earnings, the entire group often drops quickly in sympathy, as investors anticipate a shared negative impact across correlated peer companies.

Why Traders Watch Volatile Stocks

Traders seek short-term gains by targeting volatile stocks, as big moves can yield quick, high returns (e.g., 10% to 20% in a week).

Opportunity vs. Risk: For active traders, volatility equals opportunity. They look for quick profit situations, knowing this approach requires strict risk management and fast exits when the market turns.
Trader vs. Investor: For active traders, volatility is the essential driver of profits. For long-term investors, this same volatility often means stress and unwanted account swings.

How to Screen NASDAQ Stocks for Frequent Price Swings

Smart traders don’t just chase the stocks that made a big move yesterday. Instead, they use objective data and real-time triggers to identify stocks with consistent volatility potential.

Use Quantitative Filters

You should use hard data to filter for the stocks with the highest potential for price swings, removing subjective bias and focusing purely on statistics. Using a quantitative approach identifies stocks that are mathematically more likely to experience significant moves.

Screening tools found in high-end brokerage platforms or specialized FinTech analysis software allow you to filter by specific metrics:

Beta: Filter for high Beta (e.g., above 1.2 or 1.5). This isolates stocks that historically move much more than the overall market.
Average True Range (ATR): Filter for a high ATR value relative to the stock’s price. This indicates a consistently large average daily price movement in dollar terms, regardless of the stock’s absolute price.
Percentage Change: Screen for stocks that have recorded significant percentage price moves (e.g., >5%) multiple times in the last month. This filters for a consistent history of wide daily swings.

Combine Quant Filters With Qualitative Triggers

Professional traders do not rely solely on statistical data. The strongest strategies blend quantitative metrics with real-time market dynamics to anticipate volatility.

Here is how to combine the two:

Quantitative Data for Watchlist: Use numbers like Beta and ATR to build a list of stocks that can move. (For example, an ATR filter shows NVDA averages a $10 daily swing).
Qualitative Triggers for Timing: Use news events, earnings reports, or CEO announcements as the catalyst to anticipate when the big move will happen.
The Edge: By combining both, you can predict that NVDA’s usual $10 range will likely expand to $20 due to the impending earnings news. This allows you to set a better profit target and a safer stop-loss.

Best Practices When Trading Volatile Stocks

High volatility is powerful, so traders must follow strict safety rules to protect capital.

1. Plan Every Exit Before You Enter

Trading without a planned exit strategy exposes capital to unlimited risk:

Set a Stop-Loss: Use the Average True Range (ATR) to place your stop-loss order. This gives the stock enough room to move without getting stopped out by random noise.
Manage Position Size: Only allocate a small percentage of your capital to any volatile stock. A small position means you survive a significant drop.
Define Your Target: Do not hold a winning trade indefinitely. Take the profit when your target is hit, or you risk watching a massive gain disappear overnight.

2. Wait for Confirmation

Impatience leads to poor trades. Never enter a position based on a hunch.

Wait for the stock to pull back to a known support level or break out past confirmed resistance.
You need clear confirmation that the directional move is genuine before committing capital. Entering trades based on guesses leads to quick losses in volatile stocks.

3. Accept the Risk

Do not try to catch the absolute bottom or the top of a run. Focus on capturing the middle portion of the move. Accept that high volatility brings both sharp wins and sharp losses. Your strategy must generate consistent net profit over time.

Final Thoughts

Volatile stocks offer high-return profit opportunities. You must approach them with the right mindset, prioritizing discipline and clear rules over emotion.

View trading these stocks as a calculated business process, not a way to make quick money. Understand your risk tolerance, plan every trade meticulously, and stick to your rules.