What happened
The stock market was quite frothy on Thursday, and Generac Holdings (GNRC 1.26%) was one of the stocks pushing it higher. The power-generating technology company's stock price rose by 3.5%, well outpacing the 1.5% rise of the bellwether S&P 500 index. The beaten-down stock is continuing its recent comeback.
So what
Momentum is clearly on Generac's side. Thursday morning before the market open, Credit Suisse analyst Maheep Mandloi cut his price target on the stock to $159 per share from the previous level of $165. That didn't keep investors away from the shares at all. In fact, during the day, they dipped only slightly and briefly below their Wednesday price.
Investor optimism is supporting Generac's stock, bolstered by some encouraging news in recent days from the company. It unveiled a new product that's well-timed to jump on the snowballing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) -- a home charging system.
It sounds quite promising, too. According to its maker, the Generac EV charger can provide a full charge for certain cars in four to six hours, a quick little sprint in time, compared to other charging solutions. The appeal of such a product in a growing market is obvious.
Now what
Another dynamic at play here is the low base of Generac's shares as they tumbled into 2023. The stock was one of the worst-performing titles in its sector last year. That was basically a retrenchment, as Generac -- with its robust home generator business -- was a popular title during the stay-at-home period that was the thick of the coronavirus pandemic.
