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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Cinemark, Traeger, Kontoor Brands and Royal Caribbean Cruises

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 30, 2024 – 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: Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (CNK - Free Report) , Traeger, Inc. (COOK - Free Report) , Kontoor Brands, Inc. (KTB - Free Report) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Rate Cut Hopes Lift Confidence: 4 Consumer Discretionary Stocks to Buy

Americans are a lot more confident about the economy than they were till last month. Cooling inflation and the Federal Reserve’s hint at starting rate cuts have made them more confident about the economy’s health.

Consumer confidence in August jumped on hopes that lower borrowing costs in the coming months will give people more spending power and boost the nation’s economy. Given this situation, it would be ideal to invest in discretionary stocks such as Cinemark Holdings, Inc., Traeger, Inc., Kontoor Brands, Inc. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Consumer Confidence Rebounds

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that U.S. consumer confidence jumped to 103.3 for the month from an upwardly revised 101.9 in July to hit its highest level in six months. This was also sharply higher than the consensus estimate of a reading of 100.3.

The Present Situation Index, a gauge of consumers' assessment of current business and labor market situations, climbed to 134.4 in August from 133.1 the month earlier.

The Expectations Index, a gauge of the consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, rose to 82.5 from 81.1 in July, hitting its highest level since August 2023. This was the second consecutive month that the reading came above 80. Any reading below 80 indicates impending recession.

Slowing Inflation, Political Factors Boost Confidence

Fears gripped Wall Street earlier this month leading to a massive selloff on fears that the economy could slip into a recession. However, fresh economic data, released over the past three weeks showed that the economy is still holding strong, which has alleviated the fears.

August’s jump was also driven by some major political moves in the country. President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to run for the White House also likely influenced the rise in consumer confidence.

Inflation has been cooling over the past few months. This has finally seen the Federal Reserve hinting at rate cuts. Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that rate cuts are on the horizon.

Markets are now pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut in September, with many even confident about a 50-basis-point cut in interest rates. Lower borrowing rates typically benefit growth stocks like tech and consumer discretionary.

4 Consumer Discretionary Stocks with Price Upside

We have thus chosen four discretionary that are likely to benefit in the near term. These stocks have seen positive earnings estimate revisions in the last 60 days. Each of the stocks has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cinemark Holdings, Inc.

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. is a leader in the motion picture exhibition industry. CNK operates 408 theatres and 4,657 screens in 38 states in the United States and internationally in 12 countries, mainly in Mexico, South and Central America.

Cinemark Holdings’ expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 0.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 26.2% over the past 60 days. CNK currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Traeger, Inc.

Traeger, Inc. provides wood pellet grills. COOK’s pellet grills utilize wood-fired convection power, owners can grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise and barbecue meals on one cooking system.

Traeger’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 100% over the past 60 days. COOK currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Kontoor Brands, Inc.

Kontoor Brands, Inc. is an apparel company. KTB designs, manufactures and distributes products. KTB’sbrand consists of Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic. Kontoor Brands Inc. is based in Greensboro.

Kontoor Brands’ expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 12.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.5% over the past 60 days. KTB currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

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’ cruise 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 69.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.6% over the past 60 days. RCL currently has a Zacks Rank #1.

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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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