Tuesday was an up-and-down day for the stock market, but market participants ended up on the winning side of the equation. Investors are struggling with plenty of uncertainty, especially given the current wave of COVID-19 cases hitting the U.S. and other hotspots around the world.
However, most remain convinced that the gradual rollout of coronavirus vaccines will eventually turn the tide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.67%), S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.87%), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.11%) all finished higher:
|
Index |
Percentage Change |
Point Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Dow |
+0.19% |
+60 |
|
S&P 500 |
+0.04% |
+2 |
|
Nasdaq Composite |
+0.28% |
+36 |
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Plenty of stocks sported sizable advances on Tuesday. However, two well-known companies particularly stood out from the crowd as being most likely to benefit from a resurgence in demand. Airbnb (ABNB 1.03%) and Uber Technologies (UBER -0.32%) have had to deal with particularly sharp fallout from the pandemic, but shareholders are looking beyond their current challenges and seeing a brighter future.
Airbnb gets some air
Shares of Airbnb jumped almost 9% on Tuesday. That took the travel booking website's share price to its best level in 2021.
Airbnb went public just a month ago, and the stock quickly jumped out of the gate. Many investors pointed to the lodging provider's success in dealing with the adverse conditions of the pandemic, offering full single-family residences and other separate accommodations that travelers saw as safer than traditional hotel rooms. Moreover, the service did a reasonably good job in handling the disruptions from coronavirus travel restrictions.
Image source: Getty Images.
Looking ahead, people are antsier than ever to get out of their homes and on the road. That should lead to a big boom throughout the travel sector, but Airbnb in particular stands to post outsized gains. Some of that will be because of lingering safety concerns about hotel rooms and other cramped quarters. However, Airbnb will also benefit from those who saved their travel budgets in 2020 and have more money to spend on pricier accommodations.
Investors should expect a recovery in travel to be spotty and volatile. However, in time, Airbnb will emerge a big winner as conditions turn towards normal.
Uber gets greener
Shares of Uber Technologies were up more than 7% on Tuesday. The ride-hailing service has seen demand plunge during the pandemic, but efforts to tap into the electric vehicle craze could play a role in lifting the stock as people start to return to work.
Uber has been testing its Uber Green EV-focused service, where riders can choose specifically to get rides in electric vehicles or hybrids. Uber charges a bit more for the service, but it's done well in the 50 cities in which it has been available. As a result, the company is expanding the program to more than 1,400 new cities in North America, including key markets like New York City and Miami.
The move is part of a broader strategy for Uber. The ride-hailing company hopes to have an all-EV fleet in the next 10 years, offering drivers a set of incentives to use electric vehicles.
Regardless of its green efforts, Uber should see riders more willing to use the service once it's safer to do so again. The company still faces significant challenges regarding its labor relations with drivers, but the stock has finally moved above its initial public offering price back in June 2019. That could be a sign of better things to come for Uber.
