Why GNC Holdings, Stratasys, and Cabela's Jumped Today

The stock market gave up ground on Tuesday, but investors saw major benchmarks recover from their worst levels of the day to finish down less than half a percent. Early in the day, poor earnings results from blue chip components of the Dow Jones Industrials weighed on market sentiment, and ongoing uncertainty about whether the Trump administration will be able to deliver on promised government reforms made some investors feel less confident about the future. However, several companies reported good news despite the dour mood on Wall Street, and GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC), Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS), and Cabela's (NYSE: CAB) 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.

GNC eases shareholders' concerns

Shares of GNC Holdings jumped 24% after the company posted first-quarter results that, while not perfect, were still not as bad as some investors had feared. Revenue fell 4% from year-ago levels, and same-store sales dropped 3.9% in company-owned locations and 4.6% in domestic franchise stores. Moreover, net income dropped by more than half, leaving the company with just $0.37 per share in adjusted earnings. Yet those numbers encouraged those who are patient enough to give GNC time to remake itself, and CEO Bob Moran pointed to the company's One New GNC transformation strategy as having shown signs of early success. With new loyalty programs producing some positive effects on transaction counts and volume, GNC hopes that business metrics will hit bottom and start to grow again in the near future.

Even GNC thinks it needs a transformation. Image source: GNC Holdings.

Stratasys gets a vote of confidence

Stratasys stock gained 11% in the wake of positive comments from an analyst at Piper Jaffray. He upgraded his view on the 3D printing specialist from neutral to overweight and increased his price target on the stock to $28 per share, which is almost 20% higher than where Stratasys finished the day. After a long period of tough industry conditions in 3D printing, Piper Jaffray believes that demand for equipment is starting to rise, and that could give Stratasys another opportunity to demonstrate competitive advantages that could lead to renewed growth. Even with the gains, Stratasys still trades at less than half what shares fetched in early 2015, but it's increasingly likely that the company will end up being one of the survivors of the harsh shakeout that has hit the industry.

Cabela's says game on

Finally, shares of Cabela's gained 7%. The sporting goods retailer managed to put together a sale that kept its acquisition with Bass Pro Shops alive, agreeing to sell assets and liabilities of Cabela's banking subsidiary to Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV) and Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF). Under the deal, Synovus will end up with deposits of the bank, while Capital One will get credit card assets and liabilities. Thanks to the agreement, Cabela's was able to restructure its deal with Bass Pro Shops, and now, investors will get $61.50 per share in cash. That's less than the original $65.50-per-share deal from late last year, but with many investors worrying that the deal might not get done at all, even the reduced offer was enough to make shareholders more enthusiastic about Cabela's prospects looking ahead.

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Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Stratasys. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.