In a swift reversal of fortunes, Tuesday turned out to be a banner day for the stock market. Consumer confidence rose to its highest level since October, hitting 98 in June versus estimates for 93.7.
By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.6%, the S&P 500 Index gained 1.8%, the Nasdaq Composite put on 2.1% and the Russell 2000 closed out the day with a 1.6% gain.
But there were a select handful of stocks that fared even better than everyone else. That’s why Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are three of today’s best stocks.
Here’s why:
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD)
Gilead rode a wave of bullishness after the Food and Drug Administration approved hepatitis C drug Epclusa. In the end, GILD stock was up 5.2%.
Investors are responding to the market opportunity here for Gilead, as its new HCV drug treats every major form of the disease. Last quarter, investors were soured on slowing HCV drug sales from GILD, banishing shares of Gilead to the doldrums for the last few months.
The healthcare community and the Street alike are bullish on the prospects of Epclusa, as the drug has a near-perfect success rate at curing chronic cases of hepatitis C.
The median price target of $111 provides plenty of upside from here.
Bank of America Corp (BAC)
Bank of America shares rose 4.2% after getting battered in the wake of the “Brexit” vote. Bank stocks in general were riding high, in fact, as investors await the release of the results of the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review by the Federal Reserve tomorrow, which could see BAC and other banks enlist capital return programs.
The CCAR stress tests assess whether banks sporting $50 million-plus on their balance sheets can thrive in an economic rout, and BAC was found to be the bank with the capital to stay alive.
What’s more, investors are speculating that BAC will up its dividend payout Wednesday.
Even after Tuesday’s gains, BAC stock is still down 9.5% since Friday.
Facebook Inc (FB)
While Facebook made a few headlines for redesigning the “like” button and using location to suggest friends, Facebook stock popped 3.4% on what appears to be a dip-buying opportunity.
After all, FB stock was down 5% before today’s pop, which our own Dan Burrows speculates was overdone.
At $112.70, FB stock is hovering above its 200-day moving average of $106.80 and just below its 50-day of $116.12.
Shares of Facebook are still down more than 2% since Friday.
As of this writing, John Kilhefner did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
