The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Best Buy, The Gap and Tesla
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 18, 2021 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Best Buy Co., Inc. BBY, The Gap, Inc. GPS and Tesla, Inc. TSLA.
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
3 S&P 500 Stocks to Buy as Index Bounces Back
Major three U.S. benchmarks rallied on Oct 14, with the broader S&P 500 registering its best performance in more than seven months. The S&P 500 increased 1.7% to close at 4438.26 during yesterday’s trading session, its largest one-day percentage jump since Mar 5, citing a Wall Street Journal article. The rally among U.S. stocks was broad-based, with all sectors in the S&P 500 finishing in the green.
For quite some time, the stock market was subjected to bouts of volatility. After all, investors were concerned that mounting inflation might compel consumers to spend less, which doesn’t bode well for the economy vis-à-vis the stock market.
Supply chain disruptions and increased energy prices raised concerns about an imminent increase in the cost of essential goods and services. Notably, the Fed’s preferred gauge of measuring inflation witnessed its biggest jump in 30 years on a yearly basis in August.
No doubt, such concerns compelled investors to pull back from stocks. However, a series of tailwinds helped the stock market bounce back and scale northward on Oct 14. Predominantly strong third-quarter earnings results from banks as well as healthcare companies bolstered investors’ sentiments.
From Bank of America to Citi group to Morgan Stanley to Walgreens Boots Alliance to UnitedHealth, all posted upbeat earnings results that mostly topped estimates. Banks, in particular, gained from a rebounding economy, while trading and deals helped them garner profits.
Adding to optimism was a positive economic report and inflation data that helped soothe fears over the possibility of higher interest rates. Weekly jobless claims numbers recently came in lower than anticipated, indicating that the labor market has been strong for the time being.
Last week, U.S. jobless claims were 293,000, down from 329,000 the week before, and it’s also for the first time that the number of weekly jobless claims fell below the 300,000 mark during the pandemic, as mentioned in a CNBC article.
By the way, the producers’ price index for the month of September came in lighter than expected. The producer price index increased 0.5% in September but was less than economists’ expectations of an increase of 0.6% and below August’s 0.7% rise, as mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article.
Notably, a slower-than-expected rise in wholesale prices instilled some optimism among investors that the Fed may not aggressively hike rates in the near term. Lest we forget, it’s the Fed’s initiative to maintain its accommodative monetary policy that helped the economy along with the broader stock market gain traction amid the pandemic.
Thus, thanks to such positive developments, it’s widely expected that the S&P 500 has not only registered a record jump yesterday but will continue to scale northward. Thus, investing in growth-oriented stocks listed in the S&P 500 that can make the most of the bullish trend seems prudent at the moment. We have, thus, selected three such stocks that flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Growth Score of A. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Best Buy is a multinational specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, communication, food preparation, wellness, heath, security, appliances and related services. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 17.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 26.2%.
The Gap is a premier international specialty retailer offering diverse clothing, accessories, and personal care products. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 24.2% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 204.7%.
Tesla has evolved into a dynamic technology innovator. It has transformed the EV market how Amazon changed the retail landscape and Netflix revolutionized entertainment. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has advanced 5.1% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 77.6%.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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