Stocks rose again Tuesday as investors continued to view the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union as unlikely ahead of Thursday’s vote on the matter.
Global stocks were also lifted after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said the ECB is prepared to act if Eurozone inflation does not improve.
The S&P 500 rose 0.27% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.14%. The Nasdaq Composite also gained 0.14%.
With stocks gaining for a second consecutive day, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ:HAIN) and United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) were among Tuesday’s standouts.
Facebook Inc (FB)
Shares of social media giant Facebook Inc rose 0.89% on reports that more than a half billion all over the world are using FB’s Instagram mobile app to share and take photos.
More than 80% of users of FB’s Instagram hail from outside the U.S., according to Yahoo Finance.
R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian reiterated an “outperform” rating on FB today with a $135 price target, implying significant upside from FB’s Tuesday close of just over $114. Sebastian said:
“When compared to core Facebook (1Q16 DAU/MAU of 66%), Instagram users are less engaged (~60% DAU/MAU ratio), although Facebook’s DAU/MAU engagement was ~54% in 2010 (6 years after inception), below Instagram at a similar stage of growth. As Instagram functionality is improved (i.e. suggest video pages) we expect engagement trends to stabilize.”
Hain Celestial Group Inc (HAIN)
Hain Celestial Group Inc, a maker of natural and organic food products, climbed nearly 4.3% on above-average volume. CNBC reports unusual activity activity in HAIN options, particularly the July and August $55 calls, indicating that some traders could be preparing for HAIN to a make a significant upside move in the coming weeks.
HAIN has previously been mentioned as a potential takeover target, though no deal for the company has come to fruition as of yet.
United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL)
Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc, one of the largest U.S. carriers, climbed 3.4% on heavy volume after the company offered up modest improvements to what was previously seen as a bleak second-quarter forecast.
UAL also detailed efforts to increase revenue and pare costs by a combined $3.1 billion by 2018. UAL is the third-largest U.S. airline.
UAL “said that second-quarter revenue for every seat flown one mile will drop between only 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent compared with a year ago,” reports the Associated Press. The previous estimate had been for between 6.5% and 8.5%.
At the time of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
