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4 Stocks to Make the Most of This Cyber Monday

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Bargain hunters are poised to take over the Internet on Cyber Monday (Nov 26) in search of the best online deals. In fact, this Cyber Monday is touted to be the largest online shopping day in history!

Banking on such Cyber Monday shopping spree, let’s take a look at the top retailers poised to gain significantly in the near term.

Cyber Monday is King – When it Comes to Online Shopping

As per Adobe Analytics, online retailers are expected to witness $7.8 billion in sales this Cyber Monday, making it the biggest online shopping day ever, easily surpassing Black Friday ($6.22 billion in estimated online sales) and Thanksgiving (around $3.3 billion in sales). In fact, Adobe added that Cyber Monday is just the beginning. In fact, online sales are likely to touch a whopping $124.1 billion this holiday-shopping season.

Deloitte strengthened the spirit further by announcing that e-commerce sales are projected to significantly increase by 17% to 22% compared with last years’ holiday season, which came in at $109.9 billion in online sales. Notably, most of the purchases are widely expected to be made via mobile devices, according to market-watcher App Annie.

Black Friday Registered Record Online Sales

Most of the customers have already turned to the internet for deals. Per Adobe Analytics, Black Friday recorded $6.22 billion in online sale, a new record high and up 23.6% from a year ago. Adobe also found out that $2 billion in sales stemmed from smartphones, which is itself a new record.

Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights said that “retailers have done their part to build better mobile experiences for consumers and turning nearly 10 percent more smartphone visitors into buyers this Black Friday versus last.”

Earlier in the week, online sales totaled $3.7 billion during the Thanksgiving Day, up 28% from a year ago. Notably, the day also witnessed $1 billion in sales from smartphones.

Why Are Consumers Spending?

Market pundits are of the opinion that a strong economy and high consumer confidence are providing Americans the wherewithal to spend online. In the last two quarters, the U.S. economy recorded the fastest six-month growth in four years and is on track to hit the Trump administration's annual growth target of 3%. If that happens, it would be the best yearly performance since 2005, two years before the Great Recession.

At the same time, consumers in America are currently most confident in almost two decades, courtesy of a healthy labor market. The consumer confidence index climbed to 137.9 last month from 135.3 in September, per the Conference Board, a business research organization.

People’s confidence in the present situations improved from 169.4 in September to 172.8 last month, matching the highest level reached in December 2000. The future expectations index also moved from 112.5 to 114.6, an 18-year high (read more: Consumer Confidence Leaps to 18-Year High: 5 Big Gainers).

4 Stocks to Gain From This Online Rush

The latest trends that show most people intend to splurge online this time around, certainly bodes well for Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) . Needless to say, that the e-commerce giant had captured nearly one-third of all online sales during last years’ Cyber Monday. Netelixir further projects Amazon will capture almost 40% of total online sales this holiday season, up from 35% last year. In fact, Amazon’s share of online holiday sales has always increased at a steady clip for quite some time now.

(Source: Adobe Analytics, Netelixir)

Amazon is widely expected to come up with some amazing deals. Amazon has tied up with Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and the Amazon’s virtual Apple store is very much here. The company is also expected to provide massive discounts on all-new Echo and Fire HD models, and TVs.

The company has witnessed three earnings estimates moving north in the last 30 days while none moved south for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current year earnings advanced 1.9% in the same period.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 328.6% compared with the Internet - Commerce industry’s estimated rally of just 3.1%.

Market-intelligence firm Hitwise, in the meantime, concluded that Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) came in second with 8.5% of last years’ Cyber Monday transactions, followed by Target Corporation (TGT - Free Report) with 4.5%. In fact, the trend is widely anticipated to continue, thanks to the current encouraging online sales trends.

While Walmart is looking forward to offer discounts on iPhone 8 Plus, its rival Target has promised an additional 15% discount on “thousands of items” and a further 5% discount on sale prices for REDCard holders.

In the last 30 days, Walmart has seen seven earnings estimates moving north, while two moved in the other direction for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current year earnings rose 0.2% in the same period.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8.6% compared with the Retail - Supermarkets industry’s estimated rally of 2.4%.

Meanwhile Target witnessed four earnings estimates moving north in the last 30 days period, while one moved south for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current year earnings rose 0.4% in the same period.

The company, which is part of the Retail - Discount Stores industry is expected to register a solid 10.9% and 14.7% earnings growth for the current quarter and year, respectively.

Kohl's Corporation (KSS - Free Report) is another retailer that expects a lot from the biggest online shopping day in the United States. The omni-channel retailer has already said that it had a record day for digital sales on Thanksgiving, with 80% of online traffic coming from mobile devices. CEO Michelle Gass confirmed that they are “thrilled with the customer response and that they are bullish on the holiday season.”

In the last 30 days, Kohl's has seen five earnings estimates move north, while one moved south for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current year earnings rose 0.5% in the same period.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 31% compared with the Retail - Regional Department Stores industry’s estimated rally of 19.7%.

All these stocks have been assigned Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), meaning their trend in Earnings Estimate Revisions is in line with the overall market. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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