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Top 5 Consumer Staples Stocks for a Stable Portfolio in 2024

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U.S. stock markets have witnessed an impressive rally in 2023 after a highly disappointing 2022. Year to date, the three major stock indexes — the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — have surged 9.4%, 19.9% and 37.6%, respectively.

Most of the market participants are confident that the Fed is through with its current rate hike cycle buoyed by a steadily declining inflation rate, cooling down of several key economic data and a slowdown in the resilient labor market.

Despite these positives, we should remain watchful since any external disturbances like geopolitical conflict or oil price fluctuation may create volatility in markets. Moreover, we are not out of the woods, as inflation is still highly elevated.

At this stage, investment in defensive stocks like consumer staples to stabilize your portfolio in 2024 should become a prudent strategy.

Consumer Staples Immune to the Vagaries of Economic Cycle

The consumer staples sector is mature and fundamentally strong as demand for such services is generally immune to the changes in the economic cycle. The consumer staples sector includes companies that provide necessities and products for daily use. This makes the sector defensive in nature.

Therefore, this has always been a go-to place for investors, who want to play it safe during extreme market fluctuations irrespective of internal or external disturbances. Moreover, the sector is known for the stability and visibility of its earnings and cash flows. Consequently, adding stocks from the consumer staples basket lends more stability to portfolios.

Our Top Picks

We have narrowed our search to five consumer staples stocks with strong growth potential for 2024. These stocks have seen positive earnings estimate revisions in the last 60 days. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past three months.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

e.l.f. Beauty Inc. (ELF - Free Report) provides cosmetic and skin care products worldwide under the e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare brands. ELF offers eye, lip, face, face, paw, and skin care products. ELF sells its products through national and international retailers and direct-to-consumer channels, which include e-commerce platforms in the United States, and internationally primarily through distributors.

Zacks Rank #1 e.l.f. Beauty has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 57.8% and 61.5%, respectively, for the current year (ending March 2024). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 9.8% over the last 60 days.

Molson Coors Beverage Co. (TAP - Free Report) has been benefiting from brand strength, and strong performances across its portfolio and both business units. TAP raised the 2023 view mainly due to the recovery in the U.S. beer category, stronger-than-expected brand volume growth and better-than-expected pricing across the global markets. Also, TAP’s revitalization plan and the premiumization of the global portfolio bode well.

Zacks Rank #1 Molson Coors Beverage has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 0.5% and 2.6%, respectively, for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 0.2% over the last 60 days.

Celsius Holdings Inc. (CELH - Free Report) specializes in commercializing healthier, nutritional functional foods, beverages and dietary supplements. CELH markets Celsius, the calorie burner, through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, Celsius sells its products through grocery, drug, convenience, club and mass, and health and fitness channels.

Zacks Rank #2 Celsius Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 39.4% and 28.5%, respectively, for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 4.3% over the last 30 days.

The Procter & Gamble Co. (PG - Free Report) has been gaining from robust pricing and a favorable mix, along with strength across segments. PG is focused on productivity and cost-saving plans to boost margins. This led to the top and bottom lines beating the consensus mark for the fourth consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

Consequently, PG has provided an optimistic view for fiscal 2024. PG anticipates year-over-year all-in sales growth of 3-4% for fiscal 2024, in-line with our estimate of 3.6% growth. PG’s continued investment in the business alongside its efforts to offset macro cost headwinds and balance top and bottom-line growth underscores its productivity efforts.

Zacks Rank #2 Procter & Gamble has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4% and 8.8%, respectively, for the current year (ending June 2024). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the last 60 days.

The Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC - Free Report) is gaining on solid pricing initiatives. This was seen in second-quarter 2023, wherein the top and the bottom lines rose year over year. KHC’s sales grew in the North America and International regions and results continued to gain from strength in the foodservice, emerging markets and U.S. Retail Grow platforms. KHC is on track with AGILE@SCALE to enhance shareholders' value. We expect net sales growth of 2%, with an organic sales increase of 4% in 2023.

Zacks Rank #2 Kraft Heinz has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively, for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 0.3% over the last 30 days.

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