Nasdaq Stays Close to Record Highs; Upgrades Lift Tesla; Applied Materials Gets an Earnings Boost

Friday was a pretty quiet day for the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC). Investors are largely waiting to see whether the favorable trends that have helped the Nasdaq claw back huge losses during the bear market in February and March will continue to lift stocks toward new all-time highs. As of 3 p.m. EDT, the Composite was down about 0.25%, with the Nasdaq-100 Index also seeing modest declines.

Yet some favorite stocks continued to shine. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) got another boost as the stock analyst community weighed in on the electric vehicle manufacturer. Meanwhile, Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) released its latest quarterly results, and investors generally liked what they saw.

Tesla's stock climbed about 1.5%, adding to its recent gains. The automaker got a couple of upgrades from stock analyst companies, both of which had been extremely bearish about Tesla before their moves.

Source Fool.com