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5 best-rated stocks trending into 2018

Which 5 stocks have all the top analysts buzzing right now? TipRanks financial accountability engine tracks stock recommendations from over 4,700 analysts- so using the Trending Stocks tool we set out to find the Street’s hottest trending stocks. This is the perfect tool to use if you are looking for investing inspiration. Choose between the best, most or worst rated stocks in the sector that interests you over three different time periods.

In this case, we filtered the options to best-rated stocks in the last week from any sector and with any market cap size. We crunched the data and pinpointed five very compelling ‘strong buy’ stocks that are trending into 2018. You can see the average analyst price target and in green the upside percentage from the current share price. This represents a crucial indicator of the stock’s price potential over the next 12 months. To delve deeper simply click on the ticker.

Let’s take a closer look now:

Micron (NASDAQ:MU)

Over the last five days, semiconductor hot stock Micron has received a whopping 13 buy ratings and just 2 hold ratings. Analysts believe (on average) that Micron has big upside potential of 30% from the current share price. This would take MU from $44.12 all the way to $57.65. Bear in mind, MU has already doubled year-to-date!

Five-star Rajvindra Gill assigned a buy rating to MU with a very confident $76 price target on December 20 (72% upside). He wonders why the market is undervaluing MU and sees big potential for the stock in 1) 3D NAND transition, which generates a significant cost advantage (30%-35%), and 2) technology limitations in DRAM supply growth.

“We believe investors are focusing too heavily on a NAND pricing decline to see the big picture. With another record quarter and guide (beat revenue and EPS consensus by 5.6% and 11.4%, respectively) in the bag, Micron is on track to generate quarterly EPS of nearly $2.50 or roughly $10 per share of annualized earnings” says Gill.

Note that this analyst is worth following. He is ranked #43 out of over 4,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks.

Aerie Pharma (NASDAQ:AERI)

Eye disease pharma AERI has just received an early holiday gift from the FDA. The US regulatory body has approved Aerie’s lead product Rhopressa two months ahead of schedule. Aerie is now set to hire a 100-person strong sales force in preparation for launch in 2Q18.

“The FDA has approved Aerie’s Rhopressa drug for the treatment of patients with open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. We see this announcement as a positive for the company and also a positive read-through for the potential upcoming approval of Roclatan in 2019” says top Mizuho analyst Difei Yang.

Intriguingly, she also adds: The approval of Rhopressa reinforces our view that Aerie Pharmaceuticals is a strong takeout candidate.” Yang has an $87 price target on the stock and a very strong AERI track record (86% success rate and 73% average return).

Overall AERI boasts 100% Street support with 7 buy ratings in the last three months. These analysts believe (on average) that AERI can leap a further 32% in the coming months.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Even with a share price of $1,168, we can see from the trending stocks page that analysts see AMZN spiking to $1,311. In fact, in the last three months this stock has received an eyebrow-raising 33 buy ratings vs just one hold rating.

The most recent rating comes from top RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney. He has just carried out a survey on Amazon’s intelligent personal assistant Alexa. And he likes what he sees. “Following our third annual Alexa survey, we are more impressed with the traction of these devices and more convinced of their potential long-term impact. With tens of millions of users and 20K+ skills, we see Alexa’s value prop as becoming increasingly powerful as awareness and ownership ramp. We think AMZN could see $10-$11B in Alexa-related Rev by 2020.”

Smart Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SGH)

On the back of a strong beat and raise quarter, three analysts reiterated their buy ratings on specialty memory company SGH. Shares popped 10% on December 22 and analysts say shares can move another 25% from the current share price.

SGH CEO Iain MacKenzie commented that the company enjoyed ‘strength across the board.’ Revenue, gross margin, and earnings per share all exceeded the high ends of previous guidance. He now has even higher hopes for the coming quarters, due to Brazil and the improving global memory market. Indeed, current strength in Brazil is expected to continue throughout the year as the economy recovers.

Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE)

Spark Therapeutics is an interesting startup pharmaceutical company that develops gene therapies. The stock has just received a key FDA approval. ONCE has developed the first gene therapy to restore sight to individuals with a rare form of inherited blindness. Following the news, three analysts moved quickly to reiterate their ONCE buy ratings.

“Today’s approval marks another first in the field of gene therapy — both in how the therapy works and in expanding the use of gene therapy beyond the treatment of cancer,” said FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb. “This milestone reinforces the potential of this breakthrough approach in treating a wide range of challenging diseases.”

Overall this ‘Strong Buy’ stock has a bullish average analyst price target of $73 (38% upside potential). We don’t know the drug’s price just yet but Phil Nadeau, a top Cowen & Co analyst, says: “$500,000 per procedure is reasonable for a once-per-lifetime therapy that has the potential to be curative.”

Discover your own ‘Strong Buy’ trending stocks on TipRanks now >>

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Harriet Lefton
Harriet Lefton, originally from the UK, began her career as a journalist specialising in the niche world of metal markets. She graduated from the University of Cambridge before becoming a qualified UK lawyer. Now she has turned her attention to the world of financial blogging, covering US stocks, analysts and all manner of things finance-related.

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