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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: SPY, Devon Energy, NVIDIA, Moderna and Gartner

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 1, 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. ETF and stocks recently featured in the blog include: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY - Free Report) , Devon Energy Corporation (DVN - Free Report) , NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , Moderna, Inc. (MRNA - Free Report) and Gartner, Inc. (IT - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Stocks with Triple-Digit Gains Powering S&P 500 ETF

The S&P 500 Index has been hitting a series of record highs lately buoyed by a wave of upbeat corporate earnings and resurgence in economic growth. In fact, the benchmark logged in eight consecutive gains, representing its longest winning streak since 2017, and closed above the 4,700 milestone for the first time ever. With this surge, the S&P 500 is up 25.2% so far this year.

Notably, Q3 earnings from 445 S&P 500 members that have reported so far are up 42.9% from the same period last year on 18.6% lower revenues, with 80.2% beating EPS estimates and 74.4% beating revenue estimates. Though earnings and revenue growth has come down in the ongoing Q3 earnings season from the first-half’s breakneck speed, it is still very high. Aggregate Q3 earnings for the S&P 500 Index are on track to reach a new all-time quarterly record, surpassing the record set in the preceding quarter (read: ETFs to Ride on a Solid Start to Q3 Earnings).

Hiring picked up in October after a slowdown in summer. The United States added 531,000 jobs and unemployment dropped to 4.6%. Additionally, a Pfizer COVID-19 drug, which when used with an HIV drug, has reduced the risk of hospitalization and deaths substantially by 89%. The dual news has bolstered investors’ sentiment about economic growth.

The Fed’s tapering announcement added to the strength. The central bank will begin tapering bond purchases “later this month” and will reduce buying by $15 billion a month, putting it on track to end the quantitative easing by the middle of next year. The move indicates a solid recovery in the U.S. economy.

Further, the House of Representatives has passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. This would put $550 billion of new funding into transportation projects, the utility grid and broadband. The bill, which is awaiting President Joe Biden signature, has given another reason for the stocks to cheer (read: 5 Top-Ranked ETFs Outperforming to Start November).

Against such a backdrop, the proxy version of the S&P 500 Index, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, has surged 26.5% this year. Let’s take a closer look at the fundamentals of SPY and its best stocks:

Inside the SPY

The ETF holds 506 stocks in its basket with each accounting for no more than 6.3% of assets. This suggests a nice balance across each security and prevents heavy concentration.

The fund is widely spread across sectors with information technology, consumer discretionary, healthcare, financials and communication services accounting for a double-digit allocation each. It has AUM of $424.9 billion and charges 9 bps in fees per year. The product trades in heavy volume of around 67.1 million shares a day on average, ensuring higher liquidity with a tight bid/ask spread, leading to lower trading costs for investors (see: all the Large Cap Blend ETFs here).

SPY has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook. Though most stocks in the fund’s portfolio have been in deep green so far this year, we have highlighted five stocks from different industries that gained in triple-digits and led the rally:

Best-Performing Stocks of SPY

Devon Energy : This independent energy company is engaged primarily in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. The stock has soared 179.1% so far in 2021 and its earnings are expected to grow to $3.26 per share this year from a loss of 9 cents reported last year. It has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and Growth Score of A.

NVIDIA : It is the worldwide leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU. The stock has climbed 136% and has an estimated earnings growth rate of 65.6% for the fiscal year (ending January 2022). It has a Zacks Rank #2 and Growth Score of A.

Moderna : This clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is primarily focused on discovering and developing messenger RNA (mRNA) based therapies. It has jumped 134.2% so far in 2021 and its earnings are expected to grow to $29.07 per share this year from a loss of $1.96 reported last year. Moderna has a Zacks Rank #3 and Growth Score of A (read: How Are Biotech ETFs Reacting to These Q3 Earnings Releases?).

Gartner : It is reportedly the world’s leading information technology research and advisory firm. The stock has risen 108.4% and has expected earnings growth of 77.7% for this year. It has a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score of B. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

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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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