Salesforce signage outside office building in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
With markets up big year-to-date, bulls and bears seem to have completely diverged in their hypotheses on the upcoming end of the fiscal year. Some see a potential for a dot com bubble-esq surge, and others only expect a pullback.
However, it is of paramount importance for any long-term investor to take into consideration analysis on company fundamentals when picking stocks.
Therefore, we at TipRanks scrubbed through the noise and found the stocks some of Wall Street’s most accurate professionals have picked as long-term winners. Let’s take a look at what the fundamentals and top analysts have to say.
CrowdStrike
With little signs of slowing, one of the fastest growing sectors over the last two years has been cloud computing. All of the new digital enterprise solutions necessitate security, and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD) has been capitalizing on its in-demand niche. The cybersecurity firm is experiencing elevated levels of enterprise spending on security, a positive metric heading toward its expected earnings release on December 1st. (See CrowdStrike Stock Analysis on TipRanks)
Alex Henderson of Needham & Co. recently published his hypothesis on the tech company, writing that “CrowdStrike’s platform is delivering a powerful blend of frictionless deployment and trial, exceptional scalability, and these are resulting in rapid growth which we think is sustainable over 50% for the next 3–5 years.” He was confident enough to state that “investors will be rewarded for buying and holding onto these shares.”
Henderson rated the stock a Buy, and assigned a price target of $340 per share.
Come earnings, the five-star analyst is expecting another impressive quarter and a raise of guidance from CrowdStrike, which he describes as currently succeeding in its field. Meanwhile, increased cyberattacks and high-profile hacks worldwide have increased the urgency and demand for companies like CrowdStrike.
Concerns over competition recently rattled investors and heavy selling pressure caused the stock to come down to discounted levels. Henderson sees this reaction as overblown as most key indicators are showing strong and robust growth, such as direct consumer sales and the total calculated billings.
Out of more than 7,000 analysts, TipRanks rates Henderson as #46. His stock picks have been successful 72% of the time, and have returned him an average of 52.2% on each.
Salesforce
Another name which quickly became a pandemic winner is Salesforce (CRM), as the enterprise level digital transformation took hold on a global scale. The cloud-based customer relationship management software has seen its valuation gain considerably over the last two years, although recently its shares have had a pullback in price. Some analysts now see a buying opportunity in the tech stock. (See Salesforce.com Website Traffic on TipRanks)
Brent Thill of Jefferies Group delineated his stance on the stock, asserting that the company is headed toward a probable earnings beat for its November 30 earnings. The analyst identified high levels of customer satisfaction among its users, as well as additional statistics indicating long-term demand for Salesforce’s services.
Thill rated the stock a Buy, and bullishly raised his price target to $360 from $325.
According to his data, the analyst reported that 83% of Salesforce customers are seeing productivity in their pipelines. Moreover, there has been healthy acceleration with the partner ecosystem fostered by the company.
The five-star analyst added that “CRM hit the trifecta of taking a breather on large M&A, focusing on integrating Slack, and delivering more margins.” He is encouraged by the outperformance by the stock in relation to a similar software-based ETF, IGV.
Financial aggregator website TipRanks currently places Thill at #181 out of over 7,000 analysts. He has been successful 65% of the time, and has returned an average of 36.3%.
Booking Holdings
Despite a Q3 of persisting COVID-19 levels across Western Europe and the U.S., global travel trends have gained momentum and are expected to take off even more once more restrictions are eased. Well poised to capture this tailwind is Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG), which has been capitalizing on the industry shift toward self-booking for travel experiences and transportation, and recently reported particularly impressive quarterly earnings. (See Booking Risk Factors on TipRanks)
Ivan Feinseth of Tigress Financial Partners bullishly wrote that “BKNG’s market-leading position, strengthened by its strong brand equity and diversified global footprint, together with its solid execution ability, technologically advanced platform, and realization of value from its complementary acquisition strategy, will continue to drive a rebound in return on capital.”
Feinseth rated the stock a Buy, and reiterated his price target of $3,150.
Booking’s high demand for hotels, flights, and rental vehicles instilled confidence in the five-star analyst. He also noted that the company successfully mitigated impacts from the pandemic’s lows by maintaining a strong balance sheet, which in turn allowed it to invest in new initiatives and innovations.
Additionally, BKNG’s acquisitions and investments have facilitated an expansion into its “travel ecosystem with recent in ground travel services, integrating ground travel with hotel bookings, and expanding its rental car business to include alternative forms of transportation.”
Feinseth maintains #50 out of more than 7,000 analysts on TipRanks. He has been successful with his stock picks 75% of the time, and has returned an average of 38.4% per rating.
Analog Devices
The global semiconductor shortage has hit many major industries hard, with automotive and smartphone manufacturers scrambling to contain impacts. Meanwhile, many of the firms which design and produce the chips themselves are experiencing high levels of demand and have long backlogs of bookings to fill. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) falls into this case, and despite a transitory supply-side obstacle of its own, is now poised to drive ahead with enhanced capacity and elevated pricing for its products. (See Analog Devices Hedge Fund Activity on TipRanks)
Quinn Bolton of Needham & Co. printed his take, arguing that “through organic development and strategic acquisitions, we believe Analog Devices has built the preeminent franchise in precision analog semiconductors, one of the most attractive segments in the entire semiconductor industry”
Bolton maintained a Buy rating on the stock, and confidently raised his price target to $205 from $200.
The five-star analyst explained that the difficulties with the COVID-19 impacted Malaysian shipping routes are largely bypassed, and no longer represent a significant concern for the company. Furthermore, while capacity constraints may weigh down output in the short-term, ADI is ramping up its ability to meet the heavy demand.
Looking back and past performance, ADI reported a Q3 full of strong earnings and an encouraging guidance raise. Moving forward, orders are remaining at healthy levels and the firm’s path toward growth has gotten clearer. Bolton was boldly bullish on the company, writing that Analog Devices represents “a core holding in any semiconductor portfolio.”
TipRanks has calculated Bolton to be #1 out of more than 7,000 other financial analysts. His ratings have met success 88% of the time, and he has returned an average of 100.9% on each one.
Dell
While the COVID-19 pandemic pushed workforces back to home, Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) saw its valuation rise as the home office drove computer sales. Now, as those same employees are transitioning back to the office, corporate level purchases are aiding that same metric. The computer technology company recently posted its strong Q3 results, beating Wall Street consensus estimates on revenue and EPS despite a tough comparison from its prior report. (See Dell Technologies Earnings Date & Reports on TipRanks)
Amit Daryanani of Evercore ISI elaborated that the company is mitigating challenges brought on by the supply crunches and has been strengthening its balance sheet. Dell has experienced a productive level of free cash flow even with its increased capital expenditures.
Daryanani rated the stock a Buy, and added a price target of $63. This target came slightly raised from his previous at $62.
The five-star analyst went on to write that the operational leverage provided by Dell’s robust balance sheets should pave the way toward share repurchases in the future.
Dell has been experiencing expansion across both its infrastructure and networking offerings and its commercial computer product segments. Moving toward Q4, Daryanani is confident that Dell will meet its targets.
The analyst asserted his bullish stance, stating that he believes “the company is executing well against an incrementally more challenging supply environment and believe their superior supply chain management has been a driver of share gains.”
Daryanani is currently ranked at #155 out of over 7,000 professional analysts. His stock picks have been correct 73% of the time, and they have returned him an average of 35% per.
Disclosure: At the time of publication, Brock Ladenheim did not have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article.
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