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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Quanex Building Products, Bel Fuse and CECO Environmental

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 22, 2022 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Quanex Building Products (NX - Free Report) , Bel Fuse (BELFB - Free Report) and CECO Environmental .

3 Small-Cap Stocks with Promising Growth Prospects

Many investors love to buy small-cap stocks. They offer much higher growth potential, making it easy to see why they're so popular.  

Still, there's a lot of negative sentiment around the stocks, and for a few reasons – small-cap stocks are typically much more volatile, may never get off the "ground floor", and many believe that fraudulent activities are widespread.

However, the negative sentiment seems to be overdone – plenty of small-cap stocks turn out to be major winners. They typically have less analyst coverage, allowing individual investors to get in "early." And, of course, the growth potential is incredible.

Still, investing in small-caps may not suit more conservative investors, as they typically have large price swings. However, for investors with higher risk tolerance, they can be much more enticing.

Three highly-ranked small-caps paired with solid growth projections and strong share performance in 2022 include Quanex Building Products, Bel Fuse and CECO Environmental.   

All three stocks reside nicely in the green YTD, posting market-beating returns. Let's take a closer look at each one.

Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse designs, manufactures, and markets a broad array of products that power, protect and connect electronic circuits. The company sports the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Analysts have been bullish across the board over the last 60 days, upping their earnings outlook significantly.

The company has rock-solid growth projections – for the company's current fiscal year (FY22), the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate of $3.20 reflects a sizable 50% uptick in earnings Y/Y. And the growth doesn't stop there – Bel Fuse's top-line is projected to tack on 14% of growth in FY22.

In addition, the company has reported strong bottom-line results – over its last four quarters, Bel Fuse's average EPS surprise sits at a massive 370%. Just in its latest print, Bel Fuse penciled in a 260% bottom-line beat.

Quanex Building Products

Quanex Building Products is an industry-leading manufacturer of components sold to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the building products industry. The company carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Analysts have raised their bottom-line outlook across nearly all timeframes – a bullish signal.

In addition, NX carries a Style Score of a B for Growth, and here's why – the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate of $2.35 for the company's current fiscal year (FY22) reflects a 35% double-digit uptick in earnings Y/Y.

Top-line growth projections also display strength; Quanex is forecasted to generate $1.2 billion in revenue throughout FY22, penciling in an 11% year-over-year uptick.

Just in its latest quarter, the company registered a sizable 80% bottom-line beat. And over its last four quarters, the average EPS surprise is a notable 30%.

CECO Environmental Group

CECO Environmental is a leading environmentally focused, diversified industrial company whose solutions protect people, the environment, and industrial equipment across the globe. Currently, the company rocks a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Over the last 60 days, analysts have moved their earnings estimates upwards notably across all timeframes.

Similar to the stocks above, the company's projections reflect remarkable growth – the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate of $0.63 for CECE's current fiscal year (FY22) registers a triple-digit 125% Y/Y uptick in earnings.

Looking at top-line estimates, the Zacks Consensus Sales Estimate for FY22 resides at $394 million, representing a sizable 21% increase from FY21 annual revenue of $324 million.

In addition, CECE has consistently reported bottom-line results above estimates as of late, exceeding the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate in three consecutive quarters. Just in its latest print, the company penciled in a 63% bottom-line beat.

Bottom Line

Investing in small-caps comes with many perks, such as "getting in early" on the next big thing. They also offer much higher growth potential and often go under analysts' radars.  

Still, investors should be aware of the high-volatility nature of small-cap stocks.

Those who invest in the space typically have a much higher risk tolerance, as it's very possible for some of these companies to never get off the ground floor.  

All three companies above deserve a spot on any small-cap trader's watchlist.

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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/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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