Why Polaris Industries, Corning, and Conn's Jumped Today
The stock market soared on Tuesday, with strong performances from two of the most influential companies in the Dow Jones Industrials powering that index to 200-plus-point gains during the day, though it ultimately closed slightly below that level. Other major benchmarks finished with more modest moves but still were higher, climbing in the wake of good results from cyclical companies seeing rebounds from poor conditions in past years. Although some of the biggest names in the market were among the best-performing stocks, a host of other companies also contributed to the good mood on Wall Street. Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII), Corning (NYSE: GLW), and Conn's (NASDAQ: CONN) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Polaris gains speed
Shares of Polaris Industries revved upward by 15% after the company reported its third-quarter financial results. The maker of motorcycles and recreational motor sports equipment enjoyed a huge uptick in sales of its off-road vehicles and snowmobiles, helping to offset negative pressure from Polaris' decision to wind down its Victory Motorcycle division. Net income was also sharply higher, and CEO Scott Wine called the results "a testament to the power of the Polaris brand, the strength of our dealer network, and the competitive drive of the Polaris team." Even with Victory gone, Polaris sees its Indian Motorcycle brand picking up the pace going forward, and a recovery from a recall-plagued off-road vehicle segment could finally have Polaris climbing higher.
Image source: Polaris Industries.
Corning's success is clear as glass
Corning stock rose more than 6% in the wake of the glass specialist's third-quarter financial report. The maker of the well-known Gorilla Glass material for smartphones and other popular electronic devices said that it enjoyed solid gains on its top line, led by a 25%-plus rise in sales of specialty materials and a 15% jump in optical communications products. CEO Wendell Weeks pointed to the milestone of reaching 1 billion kilometers of optical fiber sold in its history. As Gorilla Glass remains a much-adopted material for electronics manufacturers and moves into other areas like pharmaceutical glass packaging and gasoline particulate filters, Corning is working hard to grow in as many arenas as possible.
Conn's recovers from the storms
Finally, Conn's stock closed up 16.5%. The retailer was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Harvey, which struck key sales areas in its home market of Texas. Yet in a business update today, Conn's said that positive sales trends returned as early as mid-September, and month-over-month sales so far in October are up sharply. Moreover, favorable trends outside the hurricane-hit areas were also encouraging. Conn's will still suffer declines in same-store sales for the quarter, but investors were pleased that the news wasn't worse.
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Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Polaris Industries. The Motley Fool recommends Corning. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
