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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights DoubleDown, Grand Canyon Education, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Live Nation Entertainment and Comcast

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 4, 2023 – 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: DoubleDown Interactive Co., Ltd. (DDI - Free Report) , Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE - Free Report) , Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL - Free Report) , Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV - Free Report) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Stocks to Buy as Inflation Continues to Cool

November turned out to be the best month of the year for Wall Street as stocks rallied on investor optimism that the Federal Reserve may be done with its interest rate hikes. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose 8.9% each for November while the Nasdaq gained 10.7% for the month.

Experts believe that the rally will continue through the year-end given the high chances that the Fed may not go for another rate hike in its December policy meeting.

The renewed vigor comes as the U.S. economy grew 5.2% in the third quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up from the earlier reported 4.9% and well above the consensus estimate of 5%.

Also, inflation continued to ease in October. The Commerce Department reported on Nov 30 that personal consumption expenditure (PCE) was unchanged in October, while the core PCE index rose a meager 0.2%.

Year over year, core PCE, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.5% in October compared to a rise of 3.7% in September.

Easing inflation has raised hopes that the Fed may be done with its monetary tightening campaign after having raised interest rates by 525 basis points since March 2022.

Dovish comments from several Fed officials that the economy may have a softer landing as inflation may steadily ease to 2% over time also led to optimism among investors.

Market participants are now expecting a 76% chance that the central bank will go for a 25-basis point rate cut in May 2023, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The fresh optimism is also boosting consumer confidence, which rose to 102 in November, beating estimates of 101 and coming in well above October’s downwardly revised reading of 99.1. This was the first jump in consumer confidence in the past three months.

Our Choices

Given this scenario, investors should invest in consumer discretionary stocks like DoubleDown Interactive Co., Ltd., Grand Canyon Education, Inc., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Comcast Corp.

DoubleDown Interactive Co., Ltd. is a developer and publisher of digital social casino games. DDI is based in Seattle.

DoubleDown Interactive’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 334.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 9.3% over the past 60 days. DDI currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. is a regionally accredited provider of online postsecondary education services focused on offering graduate and undergraduate degree programs in its core disciplines of education, business and healthcare. In addition to its online programs, LOPE offers programs at its traditional campus in Phoenix, AZ and onsite at the facilities of employers.

Grand Canyon Education's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 17.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.5% over the past 60 days. LOPE presently carries a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. owns and operates three global brands — Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. Additionally, RCL has a 50% investment in a joint venture with TUI AG, which operates the brand TUI Cruises. Royal Caribbean Cruises' brands primarily serve the contemporary, premium and deluxe segments of the cruise vacation industry, which also includes the budget and luxury segments.

Royal Caribbean Cruises' expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 187.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 7.3% over the past 90 days. RCL currently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. operates as a live entertainment company. LYV operates through the Concerts, Ticketing, and Sponsorship and Advertising segments. Live Nation Entertainment has more than 580 million fans across all of its concerts and ticketing platforms in 46 countries.

Live Nation Entertainment’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 132.8%. The Zacks Connsus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 47.5% over the past 60 days. LYV presently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Comcast Corporation is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky. Beginning first-quarter 2023, CMCSA changed its presentation of segment operating results around its two primary businesses, Connectivity & Platforms, and Content & Experiences.

Comcast Corporation’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.1% over the past 60 days. CMCSA presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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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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