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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Academy Sports and Outdoors, American Outdoor Brands, Smith & Wesson Brands, Clarus Corp and others

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – May 3, 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: Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (ASO - Free Report) , American Outdoor Brands, Inc. (AOUT - Free Report) , Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (SWBI - Free Report) , Clarus Corporation (CLAR - Free Report) and others.

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

3 Themes for Investing in the Great Reopening

For the past year or so, we have been talking about how to invest while the pandemic was ravaging the country. People were sitting cooped up at home and trying to do all their work, school and entertainment while maintaining social distancing.

But as more people get vaccinated, Americans are showing a great appetite for going out, even as they hang on to some of the stay-at-home habits they've built over the past year, such as getting food and groceries delivered (for example).

In fact, some of the restaurants reporting results now, are seeing evidence of people "treating" themselves, i.e., spending more per person on appetizers and desserts than they typically would. Restaurants really took it on the chin as the first thing people stopped doing last year was eating out.

Those that jumped to a digital/delivery model managed to keep their noses above the water. But many mom n pop outfits had to close doors, and some barely survived on stimulus checks.

Restaurant companies are looking up this year and the stocks should also do well. This is a segment that is likely to do a lot of hiring as well this year as they cater to the growing demand for dining even as delivery remains strong. Some of the more attractive stocks here are DRI, CHUY, CMPGY, PLAY, FAT and YUM.

Along the same lines, and for much the same reason, leisure stocks should also do well this year. Companies looking attractive here are Academy Sports and Outdoors, American Outdoor Brands, Smith & Wesson Brands, Clarus Corp that supply outdoor clothing and gear, hunting, fishing, camping, shooting and personal security and defense products; Escalade, Incorporated (ESCA) that supplies sports goods and equipment like table tennis tables and equipment, pool tables and equipment, other game tables like table soccer and table hockey, basketball systems and archery equipment; and boating companies like Brunswick Corporation (BC) and OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW).

The second theme is around staffing. As more offices and stores start reopening, companies that had to furlough or lay off employees are likely to start hiring again. These will typically be the small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) because the large ones survived the crisis anyway while the small ones wrapped up completely. So companies with exposure to SMBs, which would be the staffing firms of course but also tech suppliers like Microsoft (MSFT) and Western Digital (WDC).

The staffing firms looking good now are Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (HSII), TrueBlue, Inc. (TBI), Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (CCRN), ManpowerGroup Inc. (MAN), RCM Technologies, Inc. (RCMT) and Randstad Holding NV (RANJY).

The third theme is to do with advertising. The ad business suffered a big blow last year as businesses curtailed non-essential expenses, leading them to cut marketing spend. But this year is turning out to be a big one for these companies as most of them expect to see a return to regular operations.

Certainly, the reports coming in from GOOGL, FB and several others are extremely encouraging. From among the many choices available here, GOOGL, IIJIY and SOHU stand out while CXDO, TRUE, ZG and ZS are also worth considering.

Advertising and marketing stocks IPG and PUBGY are other good picks.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>''

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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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