Avis (CAR  ) has enjoyed a particularly strong few months. Since mid-July, shares have more than quadrupled. However, the bulk of gains have come since mid-September as shares have tripled more since then.

One clear factor in Avis' rise is that many of the companies' headwinds are no longer as burdensome as they were a couple of months ago. The most important is the sharp drop in coronavirus case counts which is leading to strength across the travel sector. The next is that the tightness in the used and new car market seems like it's improving. This is evident from October's new car production being sequentially higher than September's at 13 million vs 12 million and the moderate decline in used car prices from their highs this summer.

However, the stock was also aided by becoming the latest darling of Reddit's r/WallStreetBets message board. Many members of the subreddit were building a position in the stock given the high short interest and potential for a strong beat similar to other travel stocks.

The stock exploded higher following the company's Q3 results which sparked a short squeeze which was compounded by traders on social media, piling into the stock and exacerbating the pain. Going into earnings, about 21% of the stock's float had been sold short.

The company reported $10.74 in EPS, beating expectations of $4 per share by a significant margin. The company also authorized a $1 billion share buyback. Management also discussed that it would be adding more electric cars to its fleet.

As a result, the stock closed 108% higher while being up as much as 245% at one point in the day. Due to the stock's extreme volatility, it was halted many times during the day. It also caused a move higher in Avis' peer, Hertz (HTZZ  ) which is up more than a 100% since mid-September and had a similar intraday-spike in shares following Avis' earnings report.