The S&P 500 could see a steeper downturn for the remainder of the year. This could mean a micro-driven market of stock pickers will outperform the broad market. Below is a list of 20 stocks with high upside compiled by TipRanks, a data-driven financial company. US stocks may have an ugly year ahead, says popular consensus.
Morgan Stanley’s chief US equity strategist is forecasting a 20% plunge for the S&P 500. Jeremy Grantham, the legendary co-founder of GMO, told CNN the index could plunge even steeper, to at least 27% or 3,000 points. In a worst-case scenario, he believes the index will drop by 50% to around 2,000 points before it hits a bottom next year.
This scenario would make stock picking crucial for any investor whose goal is to beat the market or deliver positive returns this year. In a February 21 note, Goldman Sachs strategists said they expect a micro-driven market, where stock pickers chasing company-specific performance will outperform the broad market.
If stock picking isn’t your strength, using the consensus views of analysts to find potential winners could be a way forward. One source for them is TipRanks, a fintech company that uses artificial intelligence and other techniques to compile and analyze data, including tools for stock-market research.
Below is a list of 20 stocks on the platform that are considered “strong buy” among top analysts, or those TipRanks has assigned four or five-star ratings. TipRanks’ analyst rating system is based on three main categories which include an analyst’s average returns, profits or losses on recommendations, and the volume of corrections and transactions they make. The price targets included with each stock are also based on top analysts’ consensus.
These stocks also have a so-called TipRanks smart score of 10 out of 10, which is a purely data-driven ranking system that considers eight factors including Wall Street analyst ratings, corporate insider transactions, financial blogger opinions, individual investor sentiment, hedge fund manager activity, news sentiment, technicals, and fundamentals. The score helps predict a stock’s performance relative to the market. Scores above eight are expected to outperform.
From 2016 to date, stocks with a smart score of 10 had a total return of 208.8%. The S&P 500 returned 106% for the same period.