Investing

Jefferies Top Growth Stocks to Buy All Have Big-Time Catalysts

Lee Jackson

Published: June 25, 2019 7:00 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 7:20 pm

Increasingly, the companies that we cover on Wall Street are starting to agree that while the future is still bright for the U.S. economy, it may be one of stock market gains that are much lower than the norm has been over the past 10 years. When that is the case, then investing strategies often shift from indexing to a more disciplined stock-picking routine, and that’s when investors need solid growth ideas.

Jefferies highlights the firm’s top growth stocks to buy each week, and this week is no exception. While these stocks are better suited for accounts that have somewhat higher risk tolerance, they all make good sense now and have outstanding upside potential. We found four that are among Jefferies top U.S. growth calls for this week.

Boeing

This company has had a public relations nightmare due to the 737 MAX issues. Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. It is also one of the most valuable brands in the world.

The different segments in the company are Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Defense, Space & Security and Boeing Capital. The latter provides financial solutions facilitating sale and delivery of Boeing commercial and military aircraft, satellites and launch vehicles.

Last year, Boeing and Embraer signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to create a new strategic partnership for commercial aviation. The new joint venture is valued at $4.75 billion, which values Boeing’s 80% share at $3.8 billion.

While the 737 MAX troubles are far from over, the tide finally is turning for the company. The Jefferies analysts noted this:

We met with Boeing management last week at the Paris Airshow. The 737 MAX software update is complete and the company is working on training and education materials and certification processes now. Once it returns to flight, deliveries may be higher than production rate and long term expectations on production have not changed.

Boeing shareholders receive a 2.2% dividend. The Jefferies price objective for the shares is $448, and the Wall Street consensus target price is $415.09. The stock closed Monday trading at $373.99 a share.

Hasbro

Toys and games rarely go out of favor, and this top company is among the best in the business. Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) engages in the provision of children and family leisure time products and services with a portfolio of brands and entertainment properties. The company’s brand names include Littlest Pet Shop, Monopoly, My Little Pony, Nerf, Play-Doh and Transformers.

Its Entertainment and Licensing segment conducts movie, television and digital gaming entertainment operations, including the operations of Hasbro Studios and Backflip, as well as engages in the out-licensing of trademarks, characters and other brand and intellectual property rights to third parties for digital gaming and consumer products.

We noted earlier this year that the company’s bonanza from the huge exposure to “Bumblebee,” which is based on a fictional robot character from the Transformers franchise. More potential catalysts are on the way, and Jefferies said this:

We met with the HAS senior management team at the company HQ in Pawtucket and left with increased confidence in the L-T growth trajectory owing to the doubling of the Wizards gaming biz over the next 5 years, up margining and diversifying risk over time. The business has “turned a corner” and the 2019-2020 setup is more indicative of a model 10 years in the making. Management continues to target long term sales growth at 20%+ incremental margins on a more diversified revenue base.

Hasbro investors are paid a solid 2.56% dividend. Jefferies has a $120 price objective, which compares to the consensus target price of $107.50. The stock was last seen trading at $106.39 per share.

Oracle

This top software stock had a very difficult 2018, but it blew out numbers last week. Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) develops, manufactures, markets, sells, hosts and supports database and middleware software, application software, cloud infrastructure, hardware systems and related services worldwide. It also is one of the most valuable brands in the world.

The company licenses its Oracle Database software to customers, which is designed to enable reliable and secure storage, retrieval and manipulation of various forms of data. Its Oracle Fusion Middleware software aims to build, deploy, secure, access and integrate business applications, as well as automate their business processes.

The analysts noted this after Oracle posted massive fiscal fourth-quarter results:

Oracle reported results this week, beating consensus expectations on the back of accelerating infrastructure software revs. We highlight that the infrastructure segment grew at 7%, the highest growth it has seen in 4 ears. We believe that the company could be seeing the early signs of a multi-year product cycle, driven by 12c R2, which is now available across Cloud and on premise environments. We expect the 12c R2 product cycle to help drive mid-single digit revenue growth and double-digit cash flow growth for years. We raised our revenue and EPS estimates through fiscal 2021 and remain ahead of consensus.

Shareholders of Oracle receive a 1.69% dividend. The $66 Jefferies price objective compares with the much lower $53.41 posted consensus price target. The stock ended trading at $56.74 on Monday.

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Tesla

This has been one of the most talked about companies over the past two years, and the Jefferies team remains very positive on the shares. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) manufactures and sells electric vehicles, particularly its high-end Model S and X, as well as the mass-market-oriented Model 3. It makes some of America’s most eco-friendly cars.

Tesla also generates revenue from selling zero-emission vehicle credits to original equipment manufacturers, installing, operating and selling solar energy systems (previously SolarCity), and manufacturing and selling energy storage systems to customers.

The stock has been volatile, and CEO Elon Musk is unpredictable as well. However, the analysts are still positive and noted this:

We visited the Fremont facility this week and met with management. We believe that concerns around demand are overblown, while industrial efficiency is improving. That said, we take down our fiscal year auto margin estimates lower due to Model S/X pricing and slightly lower units. While we expect financial performance will be volatile over the near-term, we continue to see significant value in Tesla’s technology and focus on increasingly affordable price points.

The Jefferies price target remains at $300. The analysts’ consensus target is $280.31, and the stock closed most recently at $223.64 a share.

These four stocks all offer investors strength in their specific industries and the ability to generate some significant portfolio alpha. They are suitable for growth accounts with a larger degree of risk tolerance.