We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
5 Relative Price Strength Stocks to Navigate Today's Market
Read MoreHide Full Article
The U.S. stock market took a wild ride in the first quarter of 2025, as the S&P 500 notched its biggest quarterly loss in nearly three years. Market sentiment suffered a blow as President Trump’s aggressive tariff policies rekindled fears of a global trade war, a powerful dampener on investor sentiment. The index fell 4.6%, ending a five-quarter winning streak and raising fears about economic growth. Concerns about inflation and wild swings in consumer sentiment added to market volatility, prompting analysts to raise recession odds and adjust their projections accordingly.
Despite the challenges, opportunities remain for investors. In a turbulent market like this, stocks demonstrating relative price strength—those that resist broader downturns—can provide stability. This approach highlights resilient companies with strong fundamentals, offering the potential for outperformance as market conditions improve.
At this stage, investors would be wise to consider stocks like IHS Holding Limited (IHS - Free Report) , ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANIP - Free Report) , Pediatrix Medical Group (MD - Free Report) , Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS - Free Report) and LendingTree (TREE - Free Report) based on their relative price strength.
Relative Price Strength Strategy
Investors generally gauge a stock’s potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it’s essential to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry or peers or an appropriate benchmark.
If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance of providing considerable returns.
Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 for 1 to 3 months, at least, and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.
Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.
Screening Parameters
Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0
Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0
Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0
(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)
% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.
Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.
VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.
Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:
IHS Holding Limited: Based in London, it is one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure globally. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of IHS Holding indicates 114.7% growth. The company has a VGM Score of A.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IHS Holdings 2025 earnings has moved up 30.9%. The company has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion. IHS shares have gone up 50.7% in a year.
ANI Pharmaceuticals: Headquartered in Baudette, MN, this diversified biopharmaceutical company is focused on branded as well as generic prescription drugs. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings for ANIP indicates 22.1% growth. It has a VGM Score of B.
ANI Pharmaceuticals beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 17.3%, on average. ANI Pharmaceuticals shares have declined 1.4% in a year.
Pediatrix Medical Group.: Based in Sunrise, FL, Pediatrix Medical Group provides newborn, maternal-fetal, radiology, pediatric cardiology and other pediatric subspecialties physician services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company’s current market capitalization is $1.2 billion. Pediatrix Medical Group has a VGM Score of A.
Notably, over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pediatrix Medical Group’s 2025 earnings has moved up 5.4%. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, with the average being 19.4%. MD shares have gone up 47.4% in a year.
Fresenius Medical Care AG: Based in Bad Homburg, Germany, it is one of the largest integrated providers of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis following chronic kidney failure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of Fresenius Medical Care indicates 25.9% growth. It has a VGM Score of B.
Fresenius Medical Care beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and met in the other. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 15.7%, on average. FMS shares have risen 29.1% in a year.
LendingTree: Based in Charlotte, NC, it is an online platform that connects borrowers and lenders. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of LendingTree indicates 22.9% growth. The company has a VGM Score of A.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LendingTree’s 2025 earnings has moved up 16.3%. The company has a market capitalization of $688.6 million. LendingTree shares have gone up 19.7% in a year.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Image: Bigstock
5 Relative Price Strength Stocks to Navigate Today's Market
The U.S. stock market took a wild ride in the first quarter of 2025, as the S&P 500 notched its biggest quarterly loss in nearly three years. Market sentiment suffered a blow as President Trump’s aggressive tariff policies rekindled fears of a global trade war, a powerful dampener on investor sentiment. The index fell 4.6%, ending a five-quarter winning streak and raising fears about economic growth. Concerns about inflation and wild swings in consumer sentiment added to market volatility, prompting analysts to raise recession odds and adjust their projections accordingly.
Despite the challenges, opportunities remain for investors. In a turbulent market like this, stocks demonstrating relative price strength—those that resist broader downturns—can provide stability. This approach highlights resilient companies with strong fundamentals, offering the potential for outperformance as market conditions improve.
At this stage, investors would be wise to consider stocks like IHS Holding Limited (IHS - Free Report) , ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANIP - Free Report) , Pediatrix Medical Group (MD - Free Report) , Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS - Free Report) and LendingTree (TREE - Free Report) based on their relative price strength.
Relative Price Strength Strategy
Investors generally gauge a stock’s potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it’s essential to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry or peers or an appropriate benchmark.
If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance of providing considerable returns.
Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 for 1 to 3 months, at least, and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.
Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.
Screening Parameters
Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0
Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0
Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0
(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)
% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.
Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.
VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.
Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:
IHS Holding Limited: Based in London, it is one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure globally. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of IHS Holding indicates 114.7% growth. The company has a VGM Score of A.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IHS Holdings 2025 earnings has moved up 30.9%. The company has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion. IHS shares have gone up 50.7% in a year.
ANI Pharmaceuticals: Headquartered in Baudette, MN, this diversified biopharmaceutical company is focused on branded as well as generic prescription drugs. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings for ANIP indicates 22.1% growth. It has a VGM Score of B.
ANI Pharmaceuticals beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 17.3%, on average. ANI Pharmaceuticals shares have declined 1.4% in a year.
Pediatrix Medical Group.: Based in Sunrise, FL, Pediatrix Medical Group provides newborn, maternal-fetal, radiology, pediatric cardiology and other pediatric subspecialties physician services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company’s current market capitalization is $1.2 billion. Pediatrix Medical Group has a VGM Score of A.
Notably, over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pediatrix Medical Group’s 2025 earnings has moved up 5.4%. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, with the average being 19.4%. MD shares have gone up 47.4% in a year.
Fresenius Medical Care AG: Based in Bad Homburg, Germany, it is one of the largest integrated providers of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis following chronic kidney failure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of Fresenius Medical Care indicates 25.9% growth. It has a VGM Score of B.
Fresenius Medical Care beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and met in the other. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 15.7%, on average. FMS shares have risen 29.1% in a year.
LendingTree: Based in Charlotte, NC, it is an online platform that connects borrowers and lenders. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of LendingTree indicates 22.9% growth. The company has a VGM Score of A.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LendingTree’s 2025 earnings has moved up 16.3%. The company has a market capitalization of $688.6 million. LendingTree shares have gone up 19.7% in a year.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.