The Best Performing Stocks of April 2010 – NYSE:WHR, NASDAQ:ZION, NYSE:AIV,NASDAQ:HBAN, NASDAQ: AKAM

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With the exception of the last week of April, the month was a pretty good one for investors. The Dow Jones continued its rise and even passed the 11,000 barrier that it has been under for almost a year and a half. That rise was thanks to some of the best stocks in April 2010. These were the stocks that investors latched onto and made a good sum of money from. So, what were the best stocks of April 2010?

Dow Jones crosses 11000 Mark in April

April 2010 continued the rise of the Dow Jones, which has continued for almost a year now. While the end of the month had some hits due to the criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs, while at the same time the fallout from the oil rig explosion caused the market to dive. It was in April that the Dow Jones rose above 11,000 for the first time since 2008, so what stocks helped make that happen both for the Dow Jones and NASDAQ? Well, here are the top stocks of April 2010.

• Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR): During April, Whirlpool beat out the estimates of analysts by returning a whopping 25 percent to investors. The company was able to report a net income of about $164 million during the first quarter of 2010. This provided $2.13 per diluted share, which is nearly double what analysts were expecting. Thanks to good sales in Asia and Brazil, shipments are expected to grow for the company by as much as 10 percent this year.
• Zion Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION): It was expected that the company would lose money during the first quarter of 2010, but in fact it had a 32 percent return to investors. While there was money lost, it was only .57 cents per-share net loss, which is half of what experts expected.
• Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN): This company returned 25 percent to investors, which is much better than experts had expected. The bank improved its credit quality and reduced its decline in net-charge offs. Within this year, it is expected that the bank will become profitable. Most experts felt it would have a 15 cent loss per share, but the loss was only one cent per share.
• Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM): This technology company beat out estimates in its first quarter by earning 35 cents per share, which is four cents higher than what analysts had expected. The company also reported revenue of $240 million, roughly $10 million higher than what was expected.
• Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV): This real estate investment trust had a 22 percent increase in share price for the month of April. Its shock moved up all month, even though earnings were not reported until the end of the month, putting this company in very good financial shape.

The month of April was a good one over all of the stock markets in North America. Most rose up and saw themselves increase to levels not seen in over a year. The companies mentioned here helped make that happening by blasting exert estimates out of the water.

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