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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Canadian Solar, LexinFintech, Sotherly, Zumiez and SkyWest

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL –February 20, 2019 – 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: Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ - Free Report) , LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. (LX - Free Report) , Sotherly Hotels Inc. (SOHO - Free Report) , Zumiez Inc. (ZUMZ - Free Report) and SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Nasdaq Exits Bear Market: 5 Top-Ranked Winners

On Feb 15, the Nasdaq posted an eight-week long winning stretch. In doing so, it exited its longest bear market by one measure since 1991. This represents a significant turnaround from the collapse that the index and tech stocks in particular suffered in the final quarter of 2018.

Clearly, tech stocks have found favor with investors once again this year. While tech earnings likely lost momentum in the fourth quarter, the FAANG group surprised investors with strong earnings numbers. This has led to their renewed popularity among investors and market watchers alike.

At this point, the Nasdaq is up 12.6% year to date. With even last year’s weakest performers staging a strong rebound, it would make good sense to add select index members to your portfolio to boost profits.

Success of Trade Negotiations Hold the Key for Nasdaq

Ultimately, the progress of trade negotiations is crucial for the tech-heavy Nasdaq’s continued ascent. Tech-based companies reap a substantial part of their sales from abroad and from China in particular. Most of them have also set up manufacturing bases overseas.

Possibly, they have the most to lose from a bitter and extended trade war. Trade negotiations are set to continue in Washington this week. Despite the structural issues, which the Trump administration remains inflexible about, investors are increasingly optimistic about a quick resolution to the dispute.

According to fresh reports, China has made a generous offer to tackle the key issue of trade imbalance. The proposal seeks to nullify the country’s entire trade surplus with the United States in six years. The idea could easily catch the Trump administration’s fancy, resolving the crisis in the process.

Our Choices

The Nasdaq has staged an admirable recovery this year after suffering a severe downturn in the fourth quarter of 2018. The much-vaunted FAANG group, which often dictates the index’s performance, is back in favor. Meanwhile, investor optimism over a resolution to the trade dispute with China is growing. 

Adding Nasdaq stocks that have performed admirably year to date to your portfolio seems to be a smart move. However, picking winning stocks may be difficult.

This is where our VGM Score comes in. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of these three scores. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and select winners. However, it is important to keep in mind that each Style Score will carry a different weight while arriving at a VGM Score. 

We have narrowed down our search to the following stocks, each of which has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a VGM Score of A. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Canadian Solar Inc. is a vertically integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots, wafers, cells, solar modules (panels) and custom-designed solar power applications.

Canadian Solar’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.1% over the past 30 days. The stock has gained 43.2% year to date.

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. is an online consumer finance platform for young adults primarily in China.

LexinFintech’s projected growth rate for current-year earnings is 56.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 2.2% over the past 30 days. The stock has gained 38.5% year to date.

Sotherly Hotels Inc. is a lodging REIT, which is self-administered and self-managed.

Sotherly Hotels’ projected growth rate for current-year earnings is 9.7%. The stock has gained 32.4% year to date.

Zumiez Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories and hardgoods for young men and women.

Zumiez’s projected growth rate for current-year earnings is 6.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 1.2% over the past 30 days. The stock has gained 26.3% year to date.

SkyWest, Inc. operates as a regional airline in the United States through its subsidiaries — SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines.

SkyWest’s projected growth rate for current-year earnings is 9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 5% over the past 30 days. The stock has gained 25.2% year to date.

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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 http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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