Technology
Technology Momentum Giants Highlight Jefferies Top Stocks to Buy This Week
June 16, 2020 7:07 am
Last Updated: June 16, 2020 8:38 am
The companies that we cover on Wall Street increasingly are starting to agree that while the future’s still bright for the U.S. economy, despite the potential for COVID-19 spikes, it may be one of stock market gains that are much lower than the norm has been over the past decade. When that is the case, then investing strategies often shift from indexing to a more disciplined stock-picking routine. 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. The Jefferies team has reviewed second-quarter trends and activity, and they are very positive going forward on some of the biggest and most powerful technology and momentum giants.
We found four that look like solid picks for more aggressive growth accounts. It’s important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.
This company is the absolute leader in online shopping. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) serves consumers through retail websites that primarily include merchandise and content purchased for resale from vendors and those offered by third-party sellers. It has one of the most valuable brands in the world.
The company serves developers and enterprises through Amazon Web Services, which provides computing, storage, database, analytics, applications and deployment services that enable virtually various businesses. AWS is also the undisputed leader in the cloud now, and many top analysts see the company expanding and moving up the enterprise information value chain and targeting a larger total addressable market.
The company is also rolling out its checkout-free Go technology in a large grocery store and plans to license the cashierless system to other retailers. Amazon Go Grocery opened in Seattle last month. It uses an array of cameras, shelf sensors and software to allow shoppers to pick up items as varied as organic produce and wine and walk out without stopping to pay or scan merchandise. Accounts are automatically charged through a smartphone app once shoppers leave the store.
Jefferies has remained bullish on the shares for years and noted this in the recent report:
We were out with an update on the e-commerce space, broadly raising our estimates. While e-comm stocks have outperformed YTD, as they benefit from a step-change in online consumption, we increased our 2020 estimate for the US. e-comm industry growth from 13% to 20%, the highest level since 2007. While there is concern the boost is temporary, our survey shows 63% of consumers plan to permanently spend more online after the pandemic ends. We see incremental essential sales increasing engagement and frequency in other categories, allowing Amazon to capture more share of wallet. It remains our top pick.
The Jefferies target price is a whopping $3,100, and the Wall Street consensus target is $2,724.29. Amazon.com stock closed Monday at $2,572.68 a share.
This is still considered a top play for investors looking for a chip stock with Internet of Things exposure. NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) became the fourth largest semiconductor company in the industry after it merged with Freescale in late 2015. It is also important to note that the combined company is the number one supplier in auto semiconductors with a 14% share, as well as the number one supplier in global microcontrollers and a dominant supplier in mobile payments.
NXP continues getting its chips into high-growth areas such as contactless mobile payments, the Internet of Things, mobile phone charging, increased cellular data consumption and even LED lighting. With shares trading at a solid discount to peers, some Wall Street analysts are very positive on the faster earnings growth potential relative to its competition. Jefferies agrees and notes this:
We revisited our prior work on semis, and we continue to expect WFH and Analog/MCU plays in semis will mean revert. While we have already begun to see this start, we highlight Auto-semi plays in particular, as US auto inventories have declined 28% from peak levels in March and forecasts from the group appear to be 6-36% below the longer term trendline in the second quarter to the fourth quarter of 2020. In addition, we point out that COVID-19 may ultimately add additional car demand,
Jefferies has a $127 price target, greater than the $117.55 consensus target. NXP Semiconductor stock closed Monday’s trading at $109.46.
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