Which 7 stocks have top analysts buzzing right now? Market choppiness means some intriguing buying opportunities are now at hand. Indeed, Wells Fargo’s head of equity strategy, Chris Harvey, has just told CNBC that the recent sell-off has unlocked value and created a “great opportunity.” “People act as if this was a spectator sport, not a contact sport. We want people to pick up that value,” Harvey said. But which stocks should you be focusing on?
TipRanks financial accountability engine tracks stock recommendations from over 4,800 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 month from any sector and with any market cap size. We crunched the data and pinpointed seven compelling ‘strong buy’ stocks that are trending right now. 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 at how this plays out now:
1. Marvell (MRVL – Research Report)
This semiconductor stock has just held an upbeat analyst day- sparking 13 Buy ratings from the Street. This includes an all-important upgrade from BMO’s Ambrish Srivastava (Track Record & Ratings).
“We have stayed on the sidelines long enough. We like the valuation, we find the risk/reward attractive ($6 upside/$2 downside), find estimates reasonable, especially after Marvell cleared the deck on the Cavium estimates, and management has built a track record of executing.” cheered Srivastava. He thus raised his rating on shares to Outperform with a $24 target price (36% upside from current levels).
At the analyst event management singled out 5G as MRVL’s largest growth/upside driver going forward, while announcing a $1 billion share buyback authorization (up from $300M previously).
2. Alibaba (BABA – Research Report)
Analysts are long-term optimistic on China’s e-commerce giant despite mixed Q2 results. Alibaba’s Q2 ESP of 9.60 yuan ($1.40) came in well above the 7.43 yuan expected by the Street. However, BABA also cut its full-year sales forecast by 4-6% due to concerns over the economic impact of a U.S.-China trade spat.
Top Baird analyst Colin Sebastian (Track Record & Ratings) called the cuts “likely less drastic than feared”. As a result, he maintained his Buy rating and $215 price target. Sebastian wasn’t alone: 17 analysts have published Buy ratings on Alibaba in the last week.
SunTrust’s Youssef Squali wrote, “We maintain a Buy and a bullish LT thesis on BABA, but lower our estimates/ PT to $180 from $195 on greater macro uncertainty… BABA’s dominant position online, growing/diversified offering and China’s on-going consumption upgrade/digitization should help BABA outperform.”
3. (ETFC – Research Report)
Leading e-broker ETrade has just released better than expected Q3 results alongside guidance toward a path to “much higher” EPS. This news is enough to overcome the revelation that ETrade is not for sale. “We do not believe initiating a sale process is the best path for value creation for our shareholders,” executive chairman Rodger Lawson said this month- disappointing some investors.
However Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy (Track Record & Ratings) is staying bullish on the stock with a price target of $64: “Even assuming the rate environment moves against E*Trade, commission rates are cut to zero, and the [price-to-earnings multiple compresses to 10x [from current levels of 11.5x], we only calculate potential downside to about $37 per share,” O’Shaughnessy wrote. “Should the Fed continue its pattern of rate hikes and valuation returns to a more normalized (but still historically low) 16x suggests a bull-case upside of $85.”
He is one of 9 analysts who have published recent buy ratings on Etrade.
4. Boston Scientific Corp (BSX – Research Report)
Large-cap medical device company Boston Scientific has just snapped up 11 Buy ratings from the Street. This is versus just 1 hold rating. Five-star Needham analyst Michael Matson (Track Record & Ratings) sees prices surging 17% to $43. He gives multiple reasons to be bullish on the stock right now: “We reiterate our Strong Buy rating given BSX’s strong product cycle, sustainable upper-single digit organic growth, and potential for upside to estimates.”
And as far as earnings are concerned, “BSX’s organic revenue growth improved to 9% in 3Q18 from 8% in 2Q18 given an easier comp and improved growth in two of its three segments. BSX more than offset a 50 bps currency headwind to drive both its gross and operating margins up 50 bps Y/Y.”
5. Amazon (AMZN – Research Report)
Contrary to Street expectations, mega stock AMZN failed to impress with its recent 3Q18 revenue results. Meanwhile AMZN guided for 4Q operating margin of $2.10-$3.60B (4.1% margin at the midpoint). This was below the Street’s $3.86B forecast (5.2% margin).
“Weaker than expected guidance may caution some, though we note results remain strong on an absolute basis and maintain our positive view given Amazon’s leading position in the Cloud services and retail sectors and the growing margin opportunity as the revenue mix shifts towards the higher margin AWS and advertising businesses” Stifel Nicolaus’ Scott Devitt reported (Track Record & Ratings). As a result he maintained his Buy rating with a $2,400 price target. From current levels this indicates 44% upside potential lies ahead. Devitt is one of 37 analysts that stuck to their AMZN Buy ratings post-earnings. Only 1 analyst (KeyBanc’s Edward Yruma) is staying sidelined.
6. Vertex Pharma (VRTX – Research Report)
HC Wainwright’s Andrew Fein (Track Record & Ratings) has just upgraded biotech Vertex from Hold to Buy. “We have recently returned from the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, and in conversations with physicians, nurses and CF care-givers we were astounded by the positive reaction the cystic fibrosis community has towards the Vertex triples” Fein writes.
The analyst continues: We have not seen this level of optimism and heard so many anecdotal experiences since the early days of Kalydeco in G551D patients. With this heightened likelihood of success in mind, Fein takes the stock to Buy with a very bullish $220 price target (27% upside potential). He is one of 10 analysts who have published Vertex Buy ratings in the last week (versus one Hold rating).
7. Capital One Financial (COF – Research Report)
Capital One Financial Corporation is a bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking and savings products. “We see favorable credit, modest loan growth, and thoughtful expense management to support our positive fundamental outlook – shares meanwhile are very modestly valued at 7.8x 2019E” opines RBC Capital’s Jason Arnold (Track Record & Ratings).
He made the comments following a resounding Q3 earnings beat. COF reported GAAP EPS of $2.99 vs. the firm’s $2.77 estimate. Encouragingly, improved credit performance and favorable outlook suggest “growth math” continues, and that credit losses should remain more stable. Arnold now has a $123 price target up from $121 previously, which means he sees 41% upside potential.
COF has received 8 recent Buy ratings with 1 Hold rating.
Enjoy Research Reports on the Stocks in this Article:
Boston Scientific (BSX) Research Report
Capital One Financial (COF) Research Report
E*Trade Financial (ETFC) Research Report
Marvell (MRVL) Research Report
Vertex Pharma (VRTX) Research Report
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