Wall Street has been in a great mood, and major stock market benchmarks made further gains to reach their best levels since late 2021. Particularly notable was the gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which led stock indexes with a gain of more than 1% just after midday on Tuesday.

The electric vehicle (EV) space has been extremely popular lately, and Rivian Automotive (RIVN 11.15%) kept up its forward momentum with a big gain on Tuesday. Yet the boost in the EV stock paled in comparison to how Charles Schwab (SCHW 0.05%) fared. You'll see all the details of both companies' news below.

Rivian gets the support it needs

Shares of Rivian Automotive climbed another 5% at midday on Tuesday, adding to gains from earlier this month. The maker of electric trucks and vans got a favorable ruling in a court decision that could provide it with hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support if things go well for its business.

Rivian has sought to build a second manufacturing plant in Georgia's Morgan and Walton counties, which are east of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The 2,000-acre facility would reportedly cost $5 billion to build, and Rivian negotiated with the state government and a local joint development authority to receive incentives worth as much as $1.5 billion.

However, opponents of the factory filed suit against Rivian in order to invalidate an estimated $700 million in property tax breaks that were part of the incentive package. Under the deal, Rivian would have made only about $300 million in payments in lieu of taxes over the next 25 years.

Today's move higher for Rivian came after the Georgia Supreme Court chose not to hear an appeal on the matter. That left in place a lower-court decision in Rivian's favor, and that puts the EV maker in a position to begin construction after having experienced delays. Production likely won't come until 2026, but the facility will still put Rivian in a better position to meet demand and pursue longer-term growth opportunities.

Schwab reassures its shareholders

Gains for Charles Schwab were much stronger, with the stock climbing 13%. The discount brokerage pioneer reported second-quarter financial results that showed the impacts of the financial turmoil in the first quarter of 2023 could finally be largely behind the company.

The tough environment did continue to weigh on Schwab's results, though. Revenue for the quarter was down 9% year over year to $4.66 billion. Adjusted net income plunged 25% to $1.49 billion, and that worked out to adjusted earnings of $0.75 per share.

Yet CEO Walt Bettinger remained optimistic. The executive pointed to $52 billion in added core net assets during the quarter, as an improving stock market helped to bolster confidence across the investing community. Despite uncertainty, Schwab opened 1 million new brokerage accounts, bringing its total customer base to 34 million accounts with more than $8 trillion in assets.

A key part of Schwab's success has been its work to integrate accounts formerly held at TD Ameritrade, which Schwab acquired. Transition efforts have started to accelerate, with about 30% of customers converted to Schwab's systems and most of the remainder expected to do so before the end of 2023.

Rising interest rates are still putting pressure on bank deposits at Schwab's banking subsidiary, which are down 31% from year-ago levels. Yet Schwab expects that trend to reverse itself in due course, and that makes now a bargain opportunity for investors looking to pick up shares of the brokerage company at a reasonable discount to their best levels of the past couple of years.