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Review the following three charts, to get a firmer hold on major large-cap stock picking ideas in this high beta stock sector.
Top Stocks by Market Capitalization — in the Consumer Discretionary Sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
2. Top Stocks by Max # of Analysts following these Stocks — in the Consumer Discretionary Sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
3. Top Stocks by Largest 1M % Change in F1 Estimate — in the Consumer Discretionary sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
II. Zacks May Sector/Industry/Company Telescope
The April 30th, 2024 Zacks Industry Ranks showed a very cyclical set-up.
I could not find any Unattractive or Very Unattractive Sector groups, after the latest Q1-24 EPS reports moved the ranking system.
There were three Very Attractive sectors: Info Tech, Industrials and Materials.
Zacks Industry Ranks showed five of Attractive sectors too: Health Care, Financials, Utilities, Energy and Communication Services.
At Market Weight? There were the two Consumer groups: Discretionary and Staples.
(1) Info Tech stayed Very Attractive. Semis & Computer Software Services led.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stock: Google (GOOGL)
(2) Industrials rose to Very Attractive from Attractive. Business Products, Machinery- Electrical, Pollution Control, and Metal Fabricating, all looked strong.
(4) Financials fell to Attractive from Very Attractive. Insurance stayed tops. Investment Banking & Brokering and Finance are also quite strong.
(5) Health Care fell to Market from Attractive. Medical Care at Market Weight now.
(6) Utilities stayed Attractive. Utilities – Gas Distribution looked the best here.
(7) Energy rose to Attractive from Market Weight. Oil & Gas Integrated, Oil Misc. and Oil & Gas E&P were the strong areas.
(8) Communications Services was Attractive. Telco Equipment became very strong.
(9) Consumer Discretionary was a Market Weight. Publishing and Non-food Retail stay strong. But Home Furnishing-Appliances, Autos/Tires/Trucks and Apparel are weak.
(10) Consumer Staples was a Market Weight. Food/Drug Retail was a top group.
III. Conclusion
In closing, the strong global consumer narrative does have quantitative support.
The IMF upgraded the world’s 2024 global real GDP growth rate by +0.1% in April 2024.
Next are IMF executive summary comments, related to a strong global consumer.
“The unexpected economic resilience, despite significant central bank interest rate hikes aimed at restoring price stability, also reflects the ability of households in major advanced economies to draw on substantial savings accumulated during the pandemic.”
“In addition, changes in mortgage and housing markets over the pre-pandemic decade of low interest rates moderated the near-term impact of policy rate hikes.”
“Global growth, estimated at +3.2% in 2023, is projected to continue at the same pace in 2024 and 2025.”
Enjoy the rest of my Zacks MAY 2024 market strategy report.
Warm Regards,
John Blank, PhD Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist
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The Underrated Global Consumer: Zacks MAY Strategy
The following is an excerpt from Zacks Chief Strategist John Blank’s full May Market Strategy report To access the full PDF, click here.
It has been acknowledged for some time: the U.S. consumer is providing a major assist, keeping the U.S. economy’s growth up.
However, the strength of the global consumer, including the now-traveling Mainland Chinese population, remains an underrated force for global growth.
I. Introduction
On April 22nd, 2024, Zacks reviewed the top Consumer Discretionary stocks inside our summary Zacks portfolio metrics tool.
A few major global consumer companies made the cut:
Review the following three charts, to get a firmer hold on major large-cap stock picking ideas in this high beta stock sector.
Top Stocks by Market Capitalization — in the Consumer Discretionary Sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
2. Top Stocks by Max # of Analysts following these Stocks — in the Consumer Discretionary Sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
3. Top Stocks by Largest 1M % Change in F1 Estimate — in the Consumer Discretionary sector, from 04/30/16 to 03/31/24
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
II. Zacks May Sector/Industry/Company Telescope
The April 30th, 2024 Zacks Industry Ranks showed a very cyclical set-up.
I could not find any Unattractive or Very Unattractive Sector groups, after the latest Q1-24 EPS reports moved the ranking system.
There were three Very Attractive sectors: Info Tech, Industrials and Materials.
Zacks Industry Ranks showed five of Attractive sectors too: Health Care, Financials, Utilities, Energy and Communication Services.
At Market Weight? There were the two Consumer groups: Discretionary and Staples.
(1) Info Tech stayed Very Attractive. Semis & Computer Software Services led.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stock: Google (GOOGL)
(2) Industrials rose to Very Attractive from Attractive. Business Products, Machinery- Electrical, Pollution Control, and Metal Fabricating, all looked strong.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stock: Westinghouse Air Brake Tech (WAB - Free Report) )
(3) Materials rose to Very Attractive from Attractive. Paper was notably strong here.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stock: Steel Dynamics (STLD - Free Report) )
(4) Financials fell to Attractive from Very Attractive. Insurance stayed tops. Investment Banking & Brokering and Finance are also quite strong.
(5) Health Care fell to Market from Attractive. Medical Care at Market Weight now.
(6) Utilities stayed Attractive. Utilities – Gas Distribution looked the best here.
(7) Energy rose to Attractive from Market Weight. Oil & Gas Integrated, Oil Misc. and Oil & Gas E&P were the strong areas.
(8) Communications Services was Attractive. Telco Equipment became very strong.
(9) Consumer Discretionary was a Market Weight. Publishing and Non-food Retail stay strong. But Home Furnishing-Appliances, Autos/Tires/Trucks and Apparel are weak.
(10) Consumer Staples was a Market Weight. Food/Drug Retail was a top group.
III. Conclusion
In closing, the strong global consumer narrative does have quantitative support.
The IMF upgraded the world’s 2024 global real GDP growth rate by +0.1% in April 2024.
Next are IMF executive summary comments, related to a strong global consumer.
“The unexpected economic resilience, despite significant central bank interest rate hikes aimed at restoring price stability, also reflects the ability of households in major advanced economies to draw on substantial savings accumulated during the pandemic.”
“In addition, changes in mortgage and housing markets over the pre-pandemic decade of low interest rates moderated the near-term impact of policy rate hikes.”
“Global growth, estimated at +3.2% in 2023, is projected to continue at the same pace in 2024 and 2025.”
Enjoy the rest of my Zacks MAY 2024 market strategy report.
Warm Regards,
John Blank, PhD
Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist