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4 Stocks to Gain From the Unbridled Popularity of Smartwatches

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The outbreak of the coronavirus last year aided the popularity of smartwatches as people became more health-conscious. Smartwatches come equipped with heart rate monitors and wearers can also measure their blood oxygen levels. Studies from medical and academic institutions like Mount Sinai Health System and Stanford University also found that smartwatches are capable of predicting whether an individual is COVID-19 positive even before they develop symptoms or tests can detect the coronavirus, as mentioned in a CBS News article.

Smartwatches also allow users to keep a track of other fitness parameters. They can check the number of calories burnt in a day or the distance traveled. It also enables them to monitor the hours of sleep they are getting every night.

Additionally, the IoT technology allows smartwatches to be connected to the wearers’ smartphones, thereby bringing more comforts. Wearers can check the notifications on their smartwatch screens and also respond to the same. Users can even make phone calls via their smartwatches when they are connected to smartphones. Certain smartwatches can also make calls over a Wi-Fi or a cellular network even when the smartphone is not nearby.

Listening to music is also becoming more convenient as wearers can access their library of songs on their smartwatches while some gadgets enable wearers to store songs in the same. Such sleek, hi-tech watches support contactless payments as well, courtesy of the embedded Near Field Communication technology.

Reflective of the conveniences that these devices are offering, demand for smartwatches is steadily rising. In the second quarter of 2021, the global smartwatch shipments rose 27% year over year, per a Counterpoint Research report, which further stated that North America is the largest market for smartwatches.

Seems the craze for smartwatches is here to stay. According to a Research and Markets report, the global smartwatch market is estimated to witness a CAGR of 19.6% from 2021 to 2027, as mentioned in a Business Wire article.

4 Stocks to Keep an Eye on

Given the rage for smart gizmos, let’s glance through the companies that are offering smartwatches and the related technology, and stand to benefit from this potential upswing. We selected four such stocks that carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) offers its Watch Series of smartwatches and its latest line-up includes the Watch Series 6. The Counterpoint Research article mentioned that in the quarter ending June 2021, the active user base of Apple Watch crossed the 100-million mark for the first time. In fact, during the fiscal third quarter, the company reported that more than 75% of customers who purchased an Apple Watch were first-time buyers.

Shares of Apple have risen 12.3% year to date. It currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 7.9% up over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the ongoing year is 70.4%.

Garmin Ltd.’s (GRMN - Free Report) Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; activity tracking and smartwatch devices, et al. On Jun 2, Garmin International Inc., which is a unit of Garmin, launched the Forerunner 55, an easy-to-use smartwatch for running.

Shares of this currently Zacks #1 Ranked player have gained 44.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has risen 5.1% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the said period is almost 9%.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) offers its Snapdragon Wear platforms that provide low-power, high impact performance for wearables including smartwatches, smart trackers and so on.

Shares of this presently Zacks Rank #2 company have gained 8.4% over the past six months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 5.8% north over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for 2021 is 96.9%.

Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google announced the completion of the acquisition of Fitbit, which is a smartwatch provider, on Jan 14. On May 18, it again announced that it is partnering with Samsung and creating a unified platform, combining its own Wear OS and Samsung’s Tizen.

Shares of Alphabet have soared 60.8% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 14.3% up over the past 60 days. This presently Zacks Rank #3 company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 73.8%.

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