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Wall Street Tends to Rise in Thanksgiving Week: 5 Growth Picks

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It’s been a topsy-turvy ride for Wall Street of late, with investors keeping an eye on the Fed’s policy moves and the latest earnings results. But the present Thanksgiving week should be bullish for the stock market.

The broader S&P 500, in reality, has advanced 0.54% on average during the Thanksgiving week for the last 50 years compared with an average gain of just 0.16% in other weeks, per a yahoo finance article.

The article further stated that during the Thanksgiving week, the stock market struggled to gain direction on Mondays and Tuesdays. However, the stock market did gain considerably the day before Thanksgiving (Thursday) and the day after. After all, consumers splurge during the holiday season, which subsequently bodes well for the economy vis-à-vis the stock market.

Talking about seasonal trends, the stock market tends to do well in the November to January period. Since 1936, the S&P 500 has increased 4.5% in the said period, way more than the average three months gain of 2.9%, according to Bank of America’s quantitative analysts, citing a MarketWatch article.

Similarly, stocks tend to jack up after midterm elections. In 17 out of 19 midterms, since 1946, in the six months following an election, the stock market has given better returns compared to the six-month period leading up to it, as mentioned in a Schwab article. Americans already voted on Nov 8. Since then, till now, the S&P 500 has gained around 5%.

But it’s not just seasonal trends, the stock market is expected to perform well on signs of inflation cooling down last month. Stubbornly high inflation for most the part of the year led the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, eventually squeezing consumer outlays, increasing borrowing costs, and impacting economic growth. However, the consumer price index rose 7.7% year over year in October, less than September’s annual rise of 8.2%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Additionally, the producer price index rose 8% last month compared to September’s year-over-year increase of 8.4%, indicating that inflation is waning, and that may compel the Fed to take a less aggressive monetary policy stance.  

Banking on such positive trends, investors should place their bets on fundamentally sound growth stocks. We have highlighted five stocks that carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), and a Growth Score of A or B, a combination that offers the best opportunities in the growth investing space. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

 e.l.f. Beauty (ELF - Free Report) operates as a cosmetic company. ELF has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of B.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 25.8% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 33.3%.

CECO Environmental (CECO - Free Report) manufactures and sells, primarily in the United States, of fiber bed mist eliminators to the chemical, printing, plating, power generation, food processing, waste incineration and textile industries. CECO has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 15.9% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 160.7%.

CalMaine Foods (CALM - Free Report) is primarily engaged in the production, grading, packing and sale of fresh shell eggs, including conventional, cage-free, organic and nutritionally-enhanced eggs. CALM has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of A.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 38.7% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 197.8%.

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT - Free Report) is a distributor of value-added industrial products — including engineered fluid power components, bearings, specialty flow control solutions, power transmission products and miscellaneous industrial supplies. AIT has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of B.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 14.3%.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM - Free Report) is one of the leading producers of food and beverage ingredients as well as goods made from various agricultural products. ADM has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of A.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 9.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 42.6%.

Shares of e.l.f. Beauty, CECO Environmental, CalMaine Foods, Applied Industrial Technologies and Archer Daniels Midland have already gained 65.3%, 77.5%, 44.5%, 26.1% and 40.8%, respectively, on a year-to-date basis.

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