Now is the Time to Accumulate 5 Relative Price Strength Stocks

The U.S. stock market is poised to end 2024 on a high, building on a remarkable bull run from early 2023. Despite minor setbacks, the S&P 500 has gained over 22% year to date. In a notable shift, the Federal Reserve recently enacted its first rate cut since 2020, reducing interest rates by 50 basis points, with another potential cut on the horizon. This policy pivot supports Wall Street’s continued upward momentum.While the U.S. economy’s fundamentals remain strong, this month could see added volatility due to the upcoming Presidential election, an FOMC meeting and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. To navigate these uncertainties, investing in stocks with robust price strength could be wise. By choosing stocks with consistent momentum, investors may harness their upward trajectory and benefit from their resilience in the ongoing rally.At this stage, investors would be wise to consider stocks like Leidos Holdings LDOS, Peloton Interactive PTON, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. ZIM, Brinker International EAT and Enova International ENVA based on their relative price strength.Relative Price Strength StrategyInvestors generally gauge a stock’s potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it’s essential to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry or peers or an appropriate benchmark.If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance of providing considerable returns.Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 for 1 to 3 months, at least, and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.Screening ParametersRelative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.Leidos Holdings: The company is a global science and technology leader that serves the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings of Leidos Holdings indicates 22.7% growth. Headquartered in Reston, VA, LDOS has a VGM Score of A.The firm has a market capitalization of $24.8 billion. Leidos Holdings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, the average being 29.9%. LDOS shares have increased 81% in a year.Peloton Interactive: It is a provider of technology-enabled interactive fitness platform. The fiscal 2025 Zacks Consensus Estimate for New York-based PTON indicates 57% year-over-year earnings per share growth. Peloton Interactive has a VGM Score of B.PTON beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the last four quarters and missed in the other two, the average being 5%. Peloton Interactive shares have gained 76.7% in a year.ZIM Integrated Shipping Services: Based in Israel, the company is a leading container ship operator. ZIM’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 47.4%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 28.9%. The company has a VGM Score of A.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services indicates 338.9% growth. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 earnings has moved up 2.7%. ZIM shares have gone up 207.4% in a year.Brinker International: Based in Dallas, TX, the company owns, operates, develops and franchises various restaurants under Chili’s Grill & Bar (Chili’s) and Maggiano’s Little Italy (Maggiano’s) brands. EAT, with a VGM Score of A, has a current market capitalization of $4.7 billion.Notably, over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brinker International’s fiscal 2025 earnings has moved up 3.4%. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and missed in the other, the average being 12.1%. EAT shares have jumped 197.9% in a year.Enova International: It is a leading provider of online financial services offering individual consumers and small businesses. The 2024 Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chicago, IL-based ENVA indicates 29.9% year-over-year earnings per share growth. Enova International has a VGM Score of A.Enova International beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, the average being 7.9%. ENVA shares have surged 109.5% in a year.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 todayDisclosure: 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.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Brinker International, Inc. (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS): Free Stock Analysis Report Enova International, Inc. (ENVA): Free Stock Analysis Report Peloton Interactive, Inc. (PTON): Free Stock Analysis Report ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks