align technologies inc shares rallied thursday making one of the worst stocks of 2022 one of the best in 2023 so far align algn surged as much as 30 to an intraday high of 36887 making it the best performing stock on both the sp 500 index spx and the nasdaq100 ndx thursday with meta platforms inc meta running a close second thursday’s gains put align on track for the stock’s largest percent increase since oct 22 2020 when it rose 35 according to dow jones data align the maker of invisalign teeth straighteners was the thirdworst sp 500 stock of 2022 but after a 28 gain in january it is now up more than 70 year to date for second best gain of 2023 for an sp 500 stock second only to lucid group inc’s lcid an 84 gain the stock has now doubled from its 52week low of 17458 which was reached on nov 9 2022 rival smiledirectclub inc sdc shares also got swept up in the rally with the stock price surging as much as 17 thursday smiledirect plans to release earnings on feb 28 the move comes as align showed signs of a turnaround and a return to sales volume growth after more than a year of declines align’s quarterly results topped wall street estimates wednesday and executives forecast sequentially flat revenue which also was better than analysts had expected morgan stanley analyst erin wright who has an overweight rating and a 314 price target said “the jury is still out” on whether the company has hit an inflection point but noted that “shares should grind higher” on the company’s first sequential volume increase in five quarters while wright considered the firstquarter guidance “light” the analyst said align’s management suggested sequential improvement in sales volume and margins in 2023 offering “a glimpse of stability” stifel analyst jonathan block who has a buy rating and a 375 price target said the resumption of growth was the “standout” of the fourth quarter for align as execs pointed to a 1 increase quarter to quarter in volume and a 7 increase in adult braces “while we did not expect align to recapture qq case volume growth this quarter we had this returning 2q23 our recent checks identified an improvement in na relative to prior surveys supported by our consistent longitudinal diligence” block said of the 12 analysts who cover align nine have buygrade ratings two have holds and one has a sell along with an average target price of 31337 according to factset data