TipRanks analyst ranking service pinpoints Wall Street’s best-performing stocks, like Tesla & Nike
Earnings season is well underway, as a number of mega-cap tech names released their financial results this past week. However, there’s still plenty more to come as several companies have yet to post their quarterly prints. Against this backdrop, how are investors supposed to pinpoint stocks that are primed for more gains? One approach is to take a cue from the pros with a proven track record of success. TipRanks analyst forecasting service attempts to identify the best-performing analysts on the Street, or the analysts with the highest success rate and average return per rating. These metrics factor in the number of ratings each analyst has published. Nike After its fourth-quarter results beat expectations and shares surpassed his previous price target, Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel took another look at Nike’s ( NKE) standing in the space. He concluded that the athletic apparel and footwear company’s long-term growth narrative remains strong. To this end, the analyst left his Buy rating as is. Further demonstrating his optimism, Nagel bumped up the price target from $150 to $195, bringing the upside potential to 18%. «We believe NKE enjoys further room to run. In our view, recent investments are only beginning to pay off and the market is underappreciating meaningfully enhanced intermediate- to longer-term EPS power of a digitally-driven NKE model,» Nagel cheered. Nike has made a significant effort to reposition itself, «whereby senior leadership committed to digitizing the company and its processes, all the while re-focusing upon superior product innovation,» Nagel points out. Expounding on this, the analyst stated, «Digital technologies, such as the NKE SNKRS App, are allowing NKE the opportunity to connect more effectively with consumers and strengthen its already-outsized brand awareness. Over the past two years, NKE digital business has more than doubled to over $9 billion. Management expects to achieve 50% digital mix of total business revenue in fiscal 2025 (up from 35%, currently).» When it comes to demand, management told investors that for fiscal year 2022, sales growth is slated to land in the low double-digit range, with total revenue of over $50 billion. In addition, estimates have gross margins expanding by 125 to 150 basis points and SG&A dollar growth surpassing revenue gains. One basis point equals 0.01%. Looking at the long-term picture, through 2025, yearly EPS growth could be in the mid-to-high teens range, which will likely be supported by high single-digit to low double-digit revenue gains and a gross margin rate in the high 40s by fiscal year 2025, «reflecting a significant shift in sales mix toward Nike Direct,» according to Nagel. Summing it all up, Nagel commented, «In our view, Nike represents an already dominant, legacy global brand that is now aggressively embracing the power of digital to enhance almost all facets of its business model. We look on upbeat Street forecasts and guidance as at least doable and supportive of a premium valuation.» The 13 th best-performing analyst on Wall Street boasts a 77% success rate and 35.6% average return per rating. F5 Networks During its fiscal third-quarter earnings call, F5 Networks ‘ share price surged as «management sprinkled a series of strongly positive data points across the script and Q&A,» Needham analyst Alex Henderson writes. As the five-star analyst sees «the good news continuing,» he is staying with the bulls. With this in mind, Henderson reiterated a Buy rating on the application delivery and security solutions provider. On top of this, he gave the price target a boost, with the figure rising from $255 to $265 (31% upside potential). Digging a bit deeper into the details of the print, Software Products recorded a 34% year-over-year increase for the quarter, versus a 44% compare.
