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Take the Zacks Approach to Beat the Market: NVIDIA, Novo Nordisk, Magenta in Focus

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Two of the three most widely followed indexes ended the week in the red, ending a two-week winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 lost 1.1% and 0.1%, respectively.

Last week was marked by mixed trading, dominated by recessionary fears on Wall Street and apprehensions about rising prices. Even as investors pondered about pricing in possible rate cuts by the Fed in the second half of the year, OPEC+’s production cut pushed up oil prices. Oil prices directly affect the general inflation level in an economy and may deter the central bank from turning dovish about interest rates.

Also, economic data released throughout the week reflected a slowing down of activity. Employment numbers came in lower than expected, manufacturing numbers hit three-month lows and services numbers came below expectations. Market participants have their eyes set on the CPI report, slated for release on Wednesday, to get a better hang of things. Currently, they are between a rock and a hard place, namely, continuing inflation and the threat of a recession.

Regardless of market conditions, we, here at Zacks, provide investors with unbiased guidance on how to beat the market.  

As usual, Zacks Research guided investors over the past three months with its time-tested methodologies. Given the prevailing market uncertainty, you may want to look at our feats to prepare better for your next action.

Here are some of our key achievements:

Magenta and Talaris Surge Following Zacks Rank Upgrade

Shares of Magenta Therapeutics, Inc. have soared 68.9% since it was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) on January 27.

Another stock, Talaris Therapeutics, Inc. , which was also upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 on January 24,  has returned 35.9% since then.

Zacks Rank, our short-term rating system, has earnings estimate revisions at its core. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.  

This stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +24.8% since 1988.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here >>>

Check Magenta’s historical EPS and Sales here>>>

Check Talaris’ historical EPS and Sales here>>>

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Zacks Recommendation Upgrade Drives Coca-Cola FEMSA and Kirin Higher 

Shares of Coca-Cola FEMSA (KOF - Free Report) and Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (KNBWY - Free Report) have advanced 9.1% and 4.1% since their Zacks Recommendation was upgraded to Outperform on January 25 and January 26, respectively.

While the Zacks Rank is our short-term rating system that is most effective over the one- to three-month holding horizon, the Zacks Recommendation aims to predict performance over the next 6 to 12 months. However, just like the Zacks Rank, the foundation for the Zacks Recommendation is trends in earnings estimate revisions.

The Zacks Recommendation classifies stocks into three groups — Outperform, Neutral and Underperform. While these recommendations are determined quantitatively, our analysts have the flexibility to override them for the 1100+ stocks they closely follow based on their better judgment of factors such as valuation, industry conditions and management effectiveness than the quantitative model.

To access our research reports with Zacks Recommendations for the 1100+ stocks we cover, click here>>>

Zacks Focus List Stocks NVIDIA, Sea Soar High

Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , which belongs to the Zacks Focus List, have risen 63.8% over the past 12 weeks. The stock was added to the Focus List on May 20, 2019. Another Focus-List holding, Sea Limited (SE - Free Report) , which was added to the portfolio on March 26, 2020, has returned 44% over the past 12 weeks. 

The Zacks Focus List is a model portfolio of 50 hand-picked stocks that possess the right fundamental ingredients to outperform the market over the next 12 months. These 50 stocks are picked from a long list of stocks with the highest Zacks Rank.

Since its inception on February 1, 1996, the Focus List portfolio has delivered an annualized return of +12.9%.

Unlock all of our powerful research, tools and analysis, including the Focus List, Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research Reports, Zacks Earnings ESP Filter, Premium Screener and more, as part of Zacks Premium. Gain full access now >>

Zacks ECAP Stocks Novo Nordisk and Church & Dwight Make Significant Gains

Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO - Free Report) , a component of our Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP), jumped 19.3% over the past 12 weeks. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD - Free Report) followed Novo Nordisk with 11.3% returns.

ECAP is a model portfolio of 30 concentrated, ultra-defensive, long-term Buy and Hold stocks. 

With little to no turnover and annual rebalance periodicity, the ECAP seeks to minimize capital loss by holding shares of companies whose earnings streams exhibit a proven 20+ year track record of surviving recessionary periods with minimal impact on aggregate earnings growth relative to the overall S&P 500.

The ECAP and many other model portfolios are available as part of Zacks Advisor Tools, a cloud-based solution to access Zacks award-winning stock, mutual fund and ETF research. Click here to schedule a demo.

Zacks ECDP Stocks Hershey’s, Clorox Outperform Peers

The Hershey Company (HSY - Free Report) , which is part of our Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP), has returned 15.9% over the past 12 weeks. Another ECDP stock, The Clorox Company (CLX - Free Report) , has climbed 10.5% over the same time frame. Of course, the inclination of investors toward quality dividend stocks to secure an income stream amid the heightened market volatility contributed to this performance.

Check Hershey’s dividend history here>>>

Check Clorox’s dividend history here>>>

With an extremely low Beta and a history of minimum earnings variability over the last 20+ years, this 25-stock portfolio helps significantly mitigate risk. The ECDP has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL - Free Report) .

Click here to access this portfolio on Zacks Advisor Tools.

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