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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Goldman Sachs, Skyworks Solutions, D.R. Horton, Capital One Financial and Align Technology

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 17, 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: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) , Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS - Free Report) , D.R. Horton, Inc. (DHI - Free Report) , Capital One Financial Corporation (COF - Free Report) and Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Must-Buy S&P 500 Stocks with Early Breakthroughs in 2021

Wall Street has maintained its northbound journey year to date after finishing an impressive 2020 despite the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the resurgence thereafter. Early trends in 2021 indicate that the rally will continue in the near term.

Several S&P 500 stocks have provided double-digit returns so far this year. Of these, a handful currently has a Zacks top rank with strong upside left in the near term. At this stage, investment in those stocks will be prudent.

Expectations of Large Fiscal Stimulus

The Democrats are moving forward with President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. Investors' are expecting that Congress will clear the path of President Biden's coronavirus-aid package in a law.

On Feb 12, the Ways and Means Committee of the House approved $940 billion of Biden's proposal. This includes $1,400 payments for millions of U.S. citizens. On Feb 10, the Education and Labor Committee approved the hike in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour over five years.

Fed Assures Accommodative Monetary Policies

On Feb 10, the Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at the Economic Club of New York that the central bank will patiently pursue accommodative monetary policies as the labor market has a long way to go to achieve a near-full employment level that was prevailing at the onset of the global outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.

Although the unemployment rate fell from the pandemic peak of 14.8% to 6.3% in January, more than 10 million workers are still without jobs. Benign inflation will enable the Fed to continue with a record-low interest rate of 0-0.25% for a long period.

Moreover, the Fed will continue to buy at least $120 billion of bonds ($80 billion of Treasury bonds and $40 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities) per month "until substantial further progress has been made toward the central bank's maximum employment and price stability goals."

Positive Developments on Coronavirus Front

The Biden administration is on track to administer at least 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine during its first 100 days in office. In the past three weeks, more than 26 million doses were injected.

Per CDC, around 34.7 million out of nearly 331 million Americans have received at least their first dose of vaccine so far. On Feb 11, President Biden said that by the end of the summer, the U.S. will have adequate doses of COVID-19 vaccines to administer to more than 300 million citizens.

Our Top Picks

We have narrowed down our search to five S&P 500 stocks based on four criteria. First, we have selected large-cap stocks (market capital > $10 billion) as these companies have a well-established business model and strong brand value. Second, these stocks have popped more than 10% year to date.

Third, all these stocks have strong growth potential for 2021 and witnessed robust earnings estimation revisions in the last 30 days. Fourth, each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Goldman Sachs' key source of earnings stability is its business diversification. Within traditional banking, a diversified product portfolio has better chances of sustaining growth than many other banks, which have exited some of these areas. It operates in four segments: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 8.2% over the last 30 days. The stock price has rallied 16.2% year to date.

Skyworks Solutions designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors that enable wireless connectivity.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 67.5% for the current year (ending September 2021). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 36.6% over the last 30 days. The stock price has soared 24.3% year to date.

D.R. Horton operates as a homebuilding company in the East, Midwest, Southeast, South Central, Southwest, and West United States.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 40.3% for the current year (ending September 2021). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 12.1% over the last 30 days. The stock price has climbed 19.2% year to date.

Capital One Financial is primarily focused on consumer and commercial lending as well as deposit origination providing various financial products and services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 22.7% over the last 30 days. The stock price has jumped 19.3% year to date.

Align Technology is a medical device company that designs, manufactures and markets Invisalign clear aligners and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists and restorative and aesthetic dentistry. It operates in two segments, Clear Aligner, and Scanners and Services.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 71.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 10.4% over the last 30 days. The stock price has surged 14.1% year to date.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

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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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