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5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength to Tap Wall Street Rally

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Wall Street ended an impressive February, marking the fourth consecutive positive month for all three major stock indexes. Last month, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite – rallied 6.1%, 5.2% and 2.2%, respectively. In fact, the Dow posted its first four-month winning streak since May 2021.

U.S. stock markets have maintained their northward journey in 2024 after witnessing an astonishing 2023. Year to date, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite – have advanced 2.3%, 7.1% and 8%, respectively.

Last week, all three major stock indexes saw the fourth consecutive month of positive ending. These three indexes posted several all-time highs on both an intraday and a closing basis in the first two months of this year.

Wall Street rally is likely to continue. The Department of Commerce reported that the U.S. economy grew at a clip of 3.2% in fourth-quarter 2023, well above the initial consensus estimate of 2%.

U.S. GDP rose 2.5% in 2023 compared with a 1.9% rise in 2022. At the beginning of 2023, the consensus estimate for full-year GDP was 2%. On Mar 1, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow tracker forecast a 2.1% growth rate for first-quarter 2024, indicating, no chance of a near-term recession.

As a result, a few stocks have shown price strength. We have selected five stocks likely to gain in the near term on the back of a favorable Zacks Rank. These companies are — Arm Holdings plc (ARM - Free Report) , EMCOR Group Inc. (EME - Free Report) , Golden Ocean Group Ltd. (GOGL - Free Report) , Interface Inc. (TILE - Free Report) and Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI - Free Report) .

Here’s How We Arrived at the Picks

We have primarily targeted stocks that have freshly been on a bull run. Stocks seeing price strength recently have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, other relevant parameters are needed to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Just these few criteria narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to eight.

Let’s discuss five out of these eight stocks:

Arm Holdings architects, develops, and licenses central processing unit products and related technologies for semiconductor companies and original equipment manufacturers. ARM offers microprocessors, systems intellectual property (IPs), graphics processing units, physical IP and associated systems IPs, software, tools, and other related services.

ARM’s products are used in various markets, such as automotive, computing infrastructure, consumer technologies, and Internet of things. ARM operates in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, South Korea, and internationally.

The stock price of Arm Holdings has soared 88.4% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 26.3% for next year (ending March 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 8% over the last 30 days.

EMCOR Group’s U.S. businesses remained solid backed by strong end-market demand and top-tier execution initiatives. EME is witnessing resilient demand for its services, primarily in semiconductors, data centers, manufacturing re-shoring, healthcare and across the EV value chain, which sparked its growth momentum.

EME’s remaining performance obligations, as of Dec 31, 2023, were $8.85 billion, up 18.6% year over year. Owing to these tailwinds, EME raised its revenues and earnings outlook for 2024.

The stock price of EMCOR Group has jumped 38.7% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 4.5% for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 15.2% over the last seven days.

Golden Ocean Group is a shipping company, which owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels worldwide. GOGL operates dry bulk vessels comprising Newcastlemax, Capesize, Panamax, and Ultramax in the spot and time charter markets. GOGL’s vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, such as ores, coal, grains, and fertilizers.

The stock price of Golden Ocean Group has climbed 22.1% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 53.5% over the last seven days.

Interface designs, produces, and sells modular carpet products primarily worldwide. TILE operates in two segments, Americas, and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. TILE offers modular carpets under the Interface and FLOR brand names, luxury vinyl tiles, and carpet tiles under the CQuestGB name for use in commercial interiors, include offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities, as well as residential interiors. TILE also offers modular resilient flooring products.

The stock price of Interface has surged 21.3% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 32.5% over the last seven days.

Acuity Brands has been banking on product vitality and increasing service in its lighting and space businesses along with implementing cost-saving initiatives. AYI’s focus on product innovation, and strategic acquisitions and divestitures bodes well. Owing to the tailwinds, for fiscal 2024, AYI expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of $13-$14.50, above the year-ago levels at midpoint.

The stock price of Acuity Brands has advanced 8.6% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 5.3% for the current year (ending August 2024). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 10.5% over the last 60 days.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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