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5 Top S&P 500 Stocks That Rallied Last Week Defying Coronavirus

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The U.S. stock markets have been witnessing extreme volatility over the last one and half months owing to the spread of the coronavirus across the country. All three major stock indexes — the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — declined 2.7%, 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively, marking their third decline in the last four weeks.

However, despite the severe volatility at the moment, Wall Street is expected to stabilize slowly after a few weeks as the rate of growth of the infected people is likely to reach its highest within that period. Meanwhile, a handful of S&P 500 stocks rallied last week. Some of them carry a favorable Zacks Rank with strong potential for future growth.

A Positive Sign from the White House

On Apr 5, President Donald Trump said in a news briefing that “The United States will reach a horrific point in terms of death, but it will be a point where things will start changing for the better.” Last week, Trump asked U.S. citizens to prepare for “very, very painful two weeks.”

So far, more than 330,000 Americans have infected with the deadly virus, with the death toll having crossed 9,600. Previously, the government estimated that the number of dead people due to coronavirus will cross 100,000. However, Sunday's press briefing hinted that the situation may not be as bad as estimated a week ago.

Market Seems Stabilizing Slowly

Wall Street continues to grapple with severe volatility, which has been plaguing it for the last six weeks. The stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride, wherein the S&P 500 index — known as the market's benchmark — fluctuated 3.7% in either direction on average in the past 11 trading days.

However, overall market volatility seems diminishing as evident from the movement of the COBE VIX — popularly known as the best fear-gauge of Wall Street. In a nutshell, the VIX indicates market's expectation of a 30-day forward-looking volatility based on the near-term S&P 500 index options (both puts and calls).

The VIX recorded its recent low of 13.38 on Feb 14. Thereafter, the fear gauge skyrocketed steadily to reach to its all-time high of 85.47 on Mar 18. This reflects an astonishing surge of 538.8% in 22 trading days. However, after Mar 18, the fear gauge took a U-turn and fell to 46.74 on Apr 3. This marks a decline of 45.3% in just 12 trading days.

On Apr 3, the CBOE VIX closed at 46.80, its lowest closing since Mar 6. Although the fear gauge is still significantly above its historic average of 20s, its steady decline in last two weeks raised hope for market's stability.

 

Wall Street is Oversold

As of Apr 5, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are down 28.8%, 26.5% and 24.9%, respectively, from their all-time highs recorded on mid-February. Year to date, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite plummeted 26.2%, 23% and 17.8%, respectively.

According to Bank of America, U.S. stock markets lost $20 trillion in value during the pandemic-induced sell-off in last seven to eight weeks. In the past four weeks, a record $284 billion outflows from bonds and $658 billion inflows to cash. Consequently, several good stocks are currently available at ultra-cheap prices.

Our Top Picks

We have narrowed down our search to five S&P 500 stocks that have popped in the past week defying coronavirus woes and market's downtrend. Each of these stock carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) with strong growth potential. 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 week.

 

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX - Free Report) is a leading multi-dealer trading platform that offers institutional investors access to global liquidity in products like U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets and high-yield bonds, European bonds, U.S. agency bonds, credit derivatives and other fixed-income securities. The Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 13.5% for the current year and 13.9% for the next year. The stock price has rallied 13% in the past week.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN - Free Report) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of treatments targeting serious medical conditions. The company is currently leading the world in developing a vaccine for COVID 19. The Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 12% for the current year and 11.7% for the next year. The stock price has surged 9.7% in the past week.

STERIS plc (STE - Free Report) develops, manufactures and markets infection prevention, decontamination, microbial reduction and surgical and gastrointestinal support products and services. The Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 14.9% for the current year and 10.4% for the next year. The stock price has advanced 6.9% in the past week.

Campbell Soup Co. (CPB - Free Report) is a worldwide manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, branded convenience food products. It operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.4% for the current year and 0.6% for the next year. The stock price has jumped 12.1% in the past week.

Equinix Inc. (EQIX - Free Report) is a global provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network service providers. The Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 8.6% for the current year and 8.8% for the next year. The stock price has gained 5.1% in the past week.

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