Don't look now, but pet stocks are no longer rolling over and playing dead. Shares of Rover (NASDAQ: ROVR) surged 15% higher on Wednesday, an otherwise dreary day of trading. A strong financial update fueled the rally. Rover is now trading 74% higher in 2023, but that came after plummeting 62% last year.

(NASDAQ: FRPT) and Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) also disappointed investors in 2022. Those two stocks surrendered nearly half their value. Freshpet is playing fetch this year, beating the market with a 40% year-to-date return. Chewy is still working its way out of the doghouse, but it's showing signs of life since bottoming out in May.

Investors gravitated to pet stocks in early 2020 when dog and cat adoptions started to spike. Folks were hunkering down at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, and it made sense to take in furry friends as new members of the family. The stocks sold off in 2022, but it's not as if consumers are spending less on their pets now. Let's take a closer look at Rover, Freshpet, and Chewy -- and why brighter days are ahead for all three investments.

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Source Fool.com