Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Silicon Valley Bank, IWM, Vipshops, Airbnb and Deere

Read MoreHide Full Article

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 24, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Silicon Valley Bank , iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) , Vipshops (VIPS - Free Report) , Airbnb (ABNB - Free Report) and Deere (DE - Free Report) .

3 Top Industry Groups to Help Cut Through the Macro Noise

Market Overview

Wednesday, U.S. equities swung wildly in both directions but ultimately finished lower after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 25 basis points. The rate hike brings the expected Fed funds rate to between 4.75 to 5 – the loftiest levels since 2007, before the financial crisis. The nine straight hikes equate to the longest streak since the one that occurred in the three years preceding 2018.

Initially, the Nasdaq 100 ETF ripped higher by nearly 2% after Fed Chairman Jay Powell said that "we considered an interest rate pause" after the collapse of several regional banks. However, he later stated that the Fed decided to hike interest rates based on "consensus" opinions. As Powell wrapped up his comments, stocks looked poised to finish strongly.

Wednesday's Nasty Close

Nevertheless, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen put a later damper on equities. Yellen first warned that situations like the bank run on Silicon Valley Bank might be more likely to happen in the future. Later, she spooked markets further by divulging that the treasury is not considering a broad increase in deposit insurance. In other words, depositors will not be covered above the $250,000 guaranteed by the FDIC should a bank fail.

The result is that the QQQ finished down nearly 1.5%. However, the biggest loser was the regional-bank heavy iShares Russell 2000 ETF. Small caps never rallied in sync with the other indices after Powell's bullish comments – a clear sign of weakness.

Presently, there is a significant dichotomy between the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell. Small caps are testing December lows while tech stocks reversed near seven-month highs.

Industry Group Leaders

Indexes such as the Russell 2000 and Nasdaq Composite are comprised of stocks that make up industry groups. Currently there is a wide dichotomy between the "haves and have nots". Today we will cover 3 top industry groups to watch:

1.   Internet – Delivery Service Industry: This small yet mighty industry group is ranked in the top 2% of all groups tracked by Zacks. One stock within the group setting up is Vipshops. China had one of the most stringent COVID-19 lockdown policies in the entire world. In fact, at times, Chinese President Xi was willing to allow the Chinese economy to come to a screeching halt to tamp down coronavirus cases. Throughout this time, Vipshops and most other Chinese companies suffered.

However, in the past three quarters, VIPS has turned around its EPS picture and has grown EPS by 12%, 55%, and 27%. Despite the widely publicized reopening of the Chinese economy, analysts seem slow to change course. VIPS has delivered positive surprises in four straight quarters, including big beats of 42.31% and 33.33%.

2.   Internet Content Industry: Once again a top group, the Internet Content Industry has found itself at the top of the heap many times over the past few years, and for a good reason. The internet has given birth to some of the largest winners in recent years. Airbnb is one of those emerging leaders. Airbnb benefits from the new era of decentralized work locations and a yearning to travel post-pandemic. ABNB is consolidating gains and setting up technically after smashing earnings in the most recent quarter.

3.   If you're hunting for steadiness in an industry, it's difficult to beat the Manufacturing – Farm Equipment group. Deere is the leader of the group. After a pullback in price, shares look attractive – especially if you want to stave off the macro-related volatility caused by the banking industry. Over the past four quarters DE has delivered double-digit top and bottom line growth.

Takeaway

The recent action in the market illustrates one of the most lopsided "stock pickers" markets in recent memory. One way to cut through the noise and find big winners is to focus on the top industry groups. Remember, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked groups tend to outperform the bottom half by a factor of two to one.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

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/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Published in