Stocks rose on news that consumer spending was strong in March and U.S. jobless claims fell to a 50-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) both closed higher. Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow 0.42% 110.00 S&P 500 0.16% 4.58 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Initial public offerings (IPOs) made headlines today, with investors clamoring for shares of Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM). Elsewhere, strong results from United Rentals (NYSE: URI) were a positive indicator for the U.S. economy. Image source: Getty Images. Zoom IPO lives up to its name Shares of Zoom Video Communications rocketed higher during their first day on the public markets, closing 72.2% above the offering price at $62.00. The offering price had already been raised from $32 in a filing 10 days ago to $36. At the closing price, the company is valued at $16.8 billion. Zoom's core product is a cloud-based video system for online meetings. The company is growing rapidly, with revenue in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2019, up 118% to $330.5 million. Zoom has 344 customers that contributed more than $100,000 in revenue, up from 143 the year before. Unlike other high-profile IPOs, Zoom is actually profitable, having earned $7.6 million, or $0.03 per share last year. After the offering, the company also has over $600 million in cash and marketable securities and no long-term debt. Investors today were excited about a tech "unicorn" that is growing so quickly and is already profitable with a rock-solid balance sheet -- so much so that they were willing to pay a rich 50 times revenue to own a piece of it. United Rentals boosts confidence in the economy Investors have been preoccupied with nervousness that the economy is slowing down, but United Rentals' first-quarter report gave reason for optimism, and shares gained 8.1% after results beat expectations. Revenue grew 22.1% to $2.12 billion and adjusted earnings per share increased 15.3% to $3.31. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $3.03 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion. Top-line growth was driven by a 23% increase in rental revenue, although profitability slipped, with GAAP net income falling 4.4% due to increased interest expense from United's acquisitions last year. Over the last 12 months, the company has repurchased $798 million of its stock, reducing the share count by 6.1%. United reaffirmed guidance for full-year revenue to grow between 13.7% and 18.7%, with CEO Michael Kneeland saying, "By reaffirming our guidance, we're emphasizing our confidence in the cycle. The year is unfolding as expected -- customer sentiment remains positive, and feedback from the field points to healthy end-market activity." That outlook following the second straight quarter of impressive results had investors in this value stock celebrating today. Offer from The Motley Fool: The 10 best stocks to buy nowMotley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the S&P 500!* Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now. Click here to get access to the full list! *Stock Advisor returns as of Jan. 31, 2019.Jim Crumly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source