TipRanks Reveals Top Stock Ratings
TipRanks gives investors clarity and confidence about which companies provide promising investment opportunities. We track and measure the performance of over 4,700 analysts to identify the top experts in each sector who consistently outperform the market.
By looking at the top analysts we can also find under-the-radar stocks which experts believe have strong investing potential. Here we look at the top 10 analysts overall, but you can filter the results by sector (tech, healthcare, financial etc) and ranking parameter. Short-term investors may prefer the 1-month option, longer-term investors can select the 2 years option.
And the top 10 analysts to follow are…
1. Gerard Cassidy– RBC Capital
TipRanks No 1 analyst has a very impressive track record: his success rate of 92% comes with an average return per recommendation of 35%. Going into 2018, Cassidy is recommending several finance stocks including: Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB); JP Morgan Chase (JPM); and Bank of America (BAC).
Although on the whole US banks exhibited a robust performance in 2017, Cassidy is confident the best is still to come. Of 2018 he says: “we believe there is the potential for the industry to experience higher profitability and earnings growth against a backdrop of improved economic conditions, continued strong credit quality, a more constructive regulatory environment and further increases in interest rates.”
2. Craig Ellis– B.Riley FBR
Ellis, a tech-focused analyst, boasts a 77% success rate and 35% average return. He calls the following semi-conductor stocks ‘attractively priced’ right now: Lam Research (LRCX); Axcelis Technologies (ACLS); Formfactor (FORM). According to Ellis, the “takeaways support the case for Memory strength to continue well into C18 albeit with DRAM tighter than NAND.” For example, he has a $250 price target on semiconductor tool maker LRCX suggesting big upside potential from the current share price of $184.
3. Glenn Greene– Oppenheimer
With an 86% success rate and 21% average return, Greene’s also specializes in the tech sector. He recently boosted his price target on PayPal (PYPL) from $75 to $80 (9% upside potential). “Our greater than normal valuation flexibility considers PYPL’s unique competitive position within the large online payments market, and its accelerating volume/revenue growth” Greene explained at the time. Other top stocks to track include Corelogic (CLGX), which he says should be one of the biggest beneficiaries of tax reform in his coverage universe.
4. Robert Wetenhall– RBC Capital
Wetenhall is the only Top 10 analyst to specialize in the Industrial Goods sector. He has an 85% success rate and 21.2% average return across his 317 stock recommendations- impressive for a sector where gains are harder to come by. For 2018 he puts his bets on Owens Corning (OC) (a ‘top pick’), Toll Brothers (TOL), DR Horton (DHI) and Foundation Building Materials Inc (FBM).
Note that he upgraded Owens Corning- a global company that develops and produces insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites- to top pick in December with a $112 PT (22% upside potential). “Our expectations for double-digit EBITDA growth, robust free cash flow generation and multiple expansion… give us confidence that the stock will rise even after strong year-to-date performance (+70%).”
5. Ken Usdin– Jefferies
Jefferies’ Ken Usdin, a finance analyst, has an incredible 91% success rate. His average return of 28% per recommendation is also pretty convincing. One of his top stocks right now is a large US holding bank: Utah-based Zions Bancorp (ZION) which has total assets of over $65 billion. He highlights Zion as a buy-rated stock on which he has conviction even without tax reform, but where- if reform did happen- it would provide a big boost.
6. Amit Daryanani– RBC Capital
TipRank’s no 6 analyst, Amit Daryanani scores an 89% success rate and 31.3% average return on his tech stock recommendations. On Nvidia (NVDA), for example, he made a whopping 162% gain from Oct 2016 to Oct 2017. Now for 2018 he is especially bullish on Broadcom (AVGO) and fiber optic company Amphenol Corp (APH). On AVGO, for example, his $325 price target suggests big upside potential of 26%. Daryanani notes that the company has beat Street quarterly EPS estimates every year since its IPO, and praises management’s ‘disciplined’ M&A action.
7. Jonathan Atkin– RBC Capital
With an 87% success rate and 19% average return, Atkin’s tech stock recommendations are certainly worth tracking. His number 1 stock idea for 2018 is IT services management company GDS Holdings Limited (GDS). “We believe GDS has the potential to outperform its peers given its positioning in an under-penetrated, growing market with strong customer demand trends and limited competitive supply” says Atkin. At the same time, he is also a fan of American Tower (AMT), Crown Castle (CCI) and SBA Comms (SBAC).
8. Helane Becker– Cowen & Co
Services sector analyst Helane Becker has an 81% success rate and 26% average return. She recently ramped up her FedEx (FDX) rating from $240 all the way to $280 (11% upside potential). According to Becker, the company is well positioned to benefit from positive e-commerce trends, even though most of its revenues come from its B2B business. At the same time: “The global nature of FedEx’s routes (particularly in China and India) offer an attractive growth opportunity for FedEx given the expanding middle class and ongoing e-commerce growth in those regions.”
9. Brian Schwartz– Oppenheimer
Brian Schwartz, the ninth top analyst, delivers a 76% success rate and 23% average return on over 350 recommendations. He sings the praises of: Instructure Inc (INST); RingCentral (RNG); WorkDay (WDAY); and Salesforce (CRM). On cloud communications platform RNG he says “we feel comfortable with RingCentral’s current business trends, and think long-term investors should add to positions on market pullbacks because of attractive open-ended growth and increasing profit margin opportunity.” His $56 price target suggests 16% upside potential, far above consensus.
10. Mark Miller– Benchmark Co
The tech sector truly dominates this list, with Miller the sixth tech analyst in the top 10! He sees huge upside potential for two stocks right now: Western Digital (WDC) (60% upside) and Amtech Systems (ASYS) (75% upside). On WDC he has a $130 price target. According to Miller: “Western Digital’s current 12% free-cash- flow yield represents an extremely low valuation for a leading firm in an industry where storage demand is growing at a double-digit y/y rates.”
Click here to explore top analyst stock ratings on TipRanks right now
Not Just Top Analysts…
Here we focused on top analysts, but TipRanks gives you the functionality to explore top hedge fund managers, corporate insiders and the web’s savviest financial bloggers.
Just like analysts, the hedge funds, insiders and financial bloggers are ranked with the same five-star system. The result: you can easily find the best advice for your investing strategy.
