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Avis Budget shares climb as Pentwater says it’s more than doubled its stake in the white-hot rental company

One of this year’s hottest investments: 2019 Toyota Corollas that smell like cigarettes. Shares of Avis are climbing on Thursday following news that hedge fund Pentwater Capital has roughly tripled the size of its stake in the rental car company.

Appearing on CNBC, Pentwater said its Avis stake is now greater than 19%. According to FactSet, Pentwater held about 6.6% of Avis as of March 31.

If the fund happened to scoop up all of its new shares on April 1, its investors would be very happy: Avis shares are up more than 130% since that date.

Avis rival Hertz is also booming this year — its shares have more than doubled in 2025. Investors are anticipating rental fleets to climb in value as used car demand grows amid tariff-led vehicle price surges. There may also be some market optimism in the potential for AI vehicle scans to boost rental companies’ ability to hit customers with higher damage charges.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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