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5 Top Stocks with Powerful Relative Price Strength
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Earnings growth and valuation multiples are indeed important for investors to determine a stock's ability to offer considerable returns. But these are also essential in determining whether a stock’s price performance is better than its peers or the industry average.
If the stock’s performance is lacking that of the broader groups despite impressive earnings growth or valuation multiples, then something must be wrong.
It’s always advisable to stay away from these stocks and bet on those that are outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks. This is because betting on a winner always increases the odds of winning.
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 over a period of 1 to 3 months at the least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth, and are the best ways to go about this strategy.
Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings results 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, 4 weeks and 1 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 12 stocks that made it through the screen:
Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY - Free Report) : Headquartered in The Richfield, MN, Best Buy is a multinational specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services. The company has a VGM score of “A” and an excellent earnings surprise history. It surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters at an average rate of 33.77%.
Kelly Services Inc. (KELYA - Free Report) : A staffing solutions provider specializing in temporary services, home care services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement, Kelly Services has a VGM score of “A”. Over the past 30 days, the Troy, MI-based firm has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for years 2017 and 2018 increase 13% each, to $1.72 and $1.87 per share, respectively.
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) : Applied Materials is one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, the company also offers deployment and support services related to the equipment supplied. Applied Materials has a VGM score of “B” and outperformed earnings estimates in the last four reported quarters.
Intuit Inc. (INTU - Free Report) : Intuit is a business and financial software company that develops and sells financial, accounting and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, consumers, and accounting professionals in the U.S. and internationally. Sporting a VGM score of “B”, this Mountain View, CA-headquartered company’s expected EPS growth rate for 3 to 5 years currently stands at 14.20% –– comparing favorably with the industry growth rate of 13.90%.
TopBuild Corp. (BLD - Free Report) : Headquartered in Daytona Beach, FL, TopBuild is one of the nation’s biggest installer and distributor of insulation products for residential houses and other construction. The 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this company is $2.66, representing some 35.88% earnings per share growth over 2016. Next year’s average forecast is $3.16, pointing to another 18.52% growth. TopBuild has a VGM score of “B”.
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.
Zacks Restaurant Recommendations: Inaddition to dining at these special places, you can feast on their stock shares. A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector. Download it free »
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5 Top Stocks with Powerful Relative Price Strength
Earnings growth and valuation multiples are indeed important for investors to determine a stock's ability to offer considerable returns. But these are also essential in determining whether a stock’s price performance is better than its peers or the industry average.
If the stock’s performance is lacking that of the broader groups despite impressive earnings growth or valuation multiples, then something must be wrong.
It’s always advisable to stay away from these stocks and bet on those that are outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks. This is because betting on a winner always increases the odds of winning.
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 over a period of 1 to 3 months at the least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth, and are the best ways to go about this strategy.
Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings results 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, 4 weeks and 1 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 12 stocks that made it through the screen:
Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY - Free Report) : Headquartered in The Richfield, MN, Best Buy is a multinational specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services. The company has a VGM score of “A” and an excellent earnings surprise history. It surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters at an average rate of 33.77%.
Kelly Services Inc. (KELYA - Free Report) : A staffing solutions provider specializing in temporary services, home care services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement, Kelly Services has a VGM score of “A”. Over the past 30 days, the Troy, MI-based firm has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for years 2017 and 2018 increase 13% each, to $1.72 and $1.87 per share, respectively.
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) : Applied Materials is one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, the company also offers deployment and support services related to the equipment supplied. Applied Materials has a VGM score of “B” and outperformed earnings estimates in the last four reported quarters.
Intuit Inc. (INTU - Free Report) : Intuit is a business and financial software company that develops and sells financial, accounting and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, consumers, and accounting professionals in the U.S. and internationally. Sporting a VGM score of “B”, this Mountain View, CA-headquartered company’s expected EPS growth rate for 3 to 5 years currently stands at 14.20% –– comparing favorably with the industry growth rate of 13.90%.
TopBuild Corp. (BLD - Free Report) : Headquartered in Daytona Beach, FL, TopBuild is one of the nation’s biggest installer and distributor of insulation products for residential houses and other construction. The 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this company is $2.66, representing some 35.88% earnings per share growth over 2016. Next year’s average forecast is $3.16, pointing to another 18.52% growth. TopBuild has a VGM score of “B”.
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.
Zacks Restaurant Recommendations: Inaddition to dining at these special places, you can feast on their stock shares. A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector. Download it free »