Wall Street Favorites: 3 Long-Term Stocks with Strong Buy Ratings for March 2024
It’s easier to buy and hold long-term stocks than it is to trade stocks and stay on top of the news.
Day trading can be nerve-wracking and lead to significant losses while picking reliable long-term stocks is less risky. You’ll also have more time to focus on your career and can expand your income instead of looking at stocks 24/7.
Top analysts look at hundreds of stocks each year and analyze several of them closely. They make recommendations of what to buy and sell, but a consensus has formed for these promising long-term stocks.
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Duolingo (DUOL)
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Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) is an educational company that helps people learn new languages. Recent expansions into math, music, and other subjects have increased the company’s total addressable market.
Users receive goals and benchmarks that help them monitor progress. The app will also send periodic notifications and emails to strengthen engagement. For instance, you’ll receive an email or a push notification if you haven’t used Duolingo in a while.
This setup helped the company achieve a 46% year-over-year growth rate in the number of monthly active users. Daily active users reached 26.9 million which is 65% higher than the same period last year. The app also has 88.4 million monthly active users.
High user growth rates translate into substantial revenue and earnings growth. Total revenue increased by 45% year-over-year while the company turned a $13.9 million net loss into $12.1 million in net income. Analysts now believe the stock can gain 11% from current levels.
Chipotle (CMG)
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Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) has evolved into a blue-chip fast-food restaurant chain that delivers high-profit margins and impressive growth rates.
Shares are up by 70% over the past year and have gained 317% over the past five years.
The stock has a “Moderate Buy” rating among 27 analysts with 19 buys and 8 holds. The highest price target of $3,100 suggests the stock can rally by an additional 16.5%.
Chipotle’s strong finish to 2023 suggests the stock can gain more ground. The firm opened 121 new restaurants in the fourth quarter, and 110 of them included the company’s highly profitable Chipotlanes.
These lanes allow customers to make orders online and receive prepared food by the time they arrive. It allows Chipotle to process more orders while keeping the lines moving.
The Mexican Grill restaurant chain also reported 15.4% year-over-year revenue growth and 27.3% year-over-year diluted EPS growth in the quarter. Chipotle closed the year with 271 new restaurant openings and aims to open 285-315 restaurants in 2024.
Intuit (INTU)
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Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) has been a top-performing fintech company. The stock is up by 66% over the past year and has gained 152% over the past five years.
Investors have several reasons to believe those gains will continue, and Wall Street analysts feel the same way.
The average rating among 22 analysts is a “Strong Buy” with an implied upside of 8%. The highest price target of $775 per share suggests the stock can gain an additional 19%.
Intuit owns several financial and business software products like TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp. The corporation recently reported another strong quarter which featured 11% year-over-year revenue growth and 110% year-over-year net income growth.
Intuit’s forward guidance suggests the company will grow revenue by 11%-12% throughout fiscal 2024. GAAP diluted earnings per share is projected to grow by 11%-15% year-over-year.
The stock also pays out a dividend for its investors. While the yield is low at 0.55%, the corporation does a great job at raising its dividend. Last year, Intuit elevated its quarterly dividend per share from $0.78 to $0.90. That’s a 15.4% year-over-year increase.
On the date of publication, Marc Guberti did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Marc Guberti is a finance freelance writer at InvestorPlace.com who hosts the Breakthrough Success Podcast. He has contributed to several publications, including the U.S. News & World Report, Benzinga, and Joy Wallet.
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