Tuesday was a good day for the stock market, which rose modestly to recover losses from the past two trading sessions. Economic data on the inflation front got more interest than usual this morning, as a reading that showed the Producer Price Index remained stable in May led some to believe that the Federal Open Market Committee might decide to leave interest rates alone when it concludes its two-day meeting on Wednesday. Major benchmarks were up in the neighborhood of half a percent, and the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 climbed to record highs.
Some stocks did even better, and Tesla (TSLA +2.73%), Omeros (OMER 2.58%), and Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ +0.00%) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Tesla stock: Driving toward $1,000?
Shares of Tesla climbed almost 5% after getting a long-term bullish outlook from a well-known billionaire investor. Ron Baron said that he believes that shares of the electric car maker will climb above the $1,000 mark by 2020, which would be roughly triple its current $370 share price in a three-year time frame. Baron pointed to the expected ramp-up in car production volume in the coming years, especially with plans for the mass-market Model 3 to get released later this summer. Tesla has inspired opinions from prominent investors on both the bullish and bearish sides, and shareholders can expect a rocky ride ahead even if the automaker's long-term success wins out in the end.
Image source: Tesla.
Omeros gets a key designation
Omeros stock gained 14.5% in the wake of positive news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The biotech company said that its OMS721 monoclonal antibody was granted breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for the treatment of Immunoglobulin A nephropathy, based on phase 2 clinical trial data evaluating the drug for treatment of this and other kidney diseases. The trial data had shown significant reductions in albumin-to-creatinine ratios and protein levels in urine after just 12 weeks of treatment, and several doctors attending an industry conference have inquired about participating in the coming phase 3 clinical trial. Breakthrough therapy designation will allow Omeros to expedite development and review of OMS721, and that could bring further growth for Omeros sooner than many had expected.
Hertz moves into overdrive
Finally, shares of Hertz Global Holdings rose 8%. The car rental company benefited from a revision of used car sales data from the National Automobile Dealers Association, which had initially said that a key price index for used cars fell more than 10% in May. The revision reduced the magnitude of the decline to 7.6%, and while that's still far from ideal, the reduction in the size of the hit was helpful. Even with the gains, though, Hertz has still lost more than half its value just since March, and the company will have to overcome not only short-term challenges in the used-car market but also the long-term competitive threats that trends like ride-sharing and on-demand shared-car availability pose to its core rental car business.
