William Blair came out with some bullish calls on a few lesser-known consumer stocks, adding Burlington Stores, J&J Snack Foods, National Vision and Six Flags to its near-term focus list.
But those aren’t the only overlooked names in the consumer space. CNBC’s “Trading Nation” asked two traders on Wednesday for their favorite ways to play for strength in the space that other investors may not be watching.
“We’re actually looking at credit cards as a way to play the reopening because no matter how you spend your money, you’re going to have to spend it somehow,” said Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global and chief market strategist at Lido Advisors.
Sanchez pinpoints Visa as one name that could benefit after getting hit hard during the pandemic. At its worst, Visa fell nearly 40% from a February 2020 peak to a March 2020 low. Since then, it has rallied more than 70% and hit an all-time high as recently as late April.
“They’re really starting to accumulate volumes, their earnings, their revenues are really looking like they’re going to hit records as the reopening occurs, especially because they’re so strong in the U.S., Europe, China,” said Sanchez.
Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, looked to the retail space for an under-the-radar winner.
“I really like Five Below, which is sort of this endless treasure hunt concept. What makes Five Below so interesting is that it’s at the upscale [end] of the dollar store segment. The stock has done very, very well. It’s tripled over the last four years,” Schlossberg told CNBC.
Five Below has risen nearly 13% in 2021, better than the 11% gain for the S&P 500.
“It only has [around 1,000] stores across the country, so plenty of room to grow,” said Schlossberg. “It sort of attracts both the idea of discoverability and abundance, but at a little bit of a higher price point, more attractive merchandise.”
Disclosure: Lido Advisors invests in Visa.
