General Electric shares jumped more than 5 percent in trading Tuesday, on track for their best day in nearly three years.
Shares of the industrial conglomerate last surged at least this much on April 10, 2015, when GE's stock closed up 10.8 percent. There was speculation among traders Tuesday that some big investors may be starting to nibble at the downtrodden conglomerate.
"We don't have a comment on the stock price," a GE spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
The stock also rode a comeback on Wall Street as fears of a trade war — which could hurt big exporters such as GE — eased. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 100 points on Tuesday with GE the best-performing stock by percentage gain. The overall market would later turn lower.
The company is coming off a dismal Monday trading session, which saw GE fall as far as $12.86 per share — the lowest level since July 2009. Pressure on GE has not let up this year, with the stock sliding more than 21 percent. A dismal 2017 saw company shares slide 42 percent, as former chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt handed the reins midyear to John Flannery in an internal promotion.
GE is in the midst of a restructuring effort, recently nominating three new directors as it looks to downsize its board.
This year has seen little to boost shareholders' hopes. GE revealed two ongoing federal investigations in the first two months of 2018: the SEC investigation into GE's accounting practices and the U.S. Justice Department investigation in connection with subprime mortgages. Poor earnings performance has heaped on further reminders of the challenges GE faces, with the most recent report again falling short of expectations.
Despite the comeback on Tuesday, the stock is still largely disliked on Wall Street. Nine analysts say hold, three recommend selling the stock and just two say buy, according to TipRanks.com. That's a very negative Wall Street outlook for a Dow member.
WATCH: General Electric stock jumping, but O'Leary says it's still 'extremely expensive'
