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3 Stocks That Survived the Pandemic & Are Still Going Strong

Wall Street has clearly recovered from its lowest point on Mar 23, although volatility remains. The three major indexes have gained some ground after the economy started reopening in all 50 states around the last week of April. However, the recent spike in new cases and hotspots for the highly infectious coronavirus has put a question mark on the financial market’s new-found strength.

At a time like this, one may take a look at the stocks that braved the turbulent markets during the lockdown and yet came out strong, purely on the basis of their operations. After all, trying times like this are all but permanent and these stocks could gain further ahead.

Markets Are Improving But Threats Remain

Taking into consideration the market’s performance over the past seven days, one can see that the three indexes have inched higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.5%, the S&P 500 index rose 2.8% and the Nasdaq Composite spiked 3.6%.

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The indexes’ uptick over the past week was a result of optimism around the Federal Reserve’s long-term outlook on the U.S. economy, a possible infrastructure bill to push the economy and finally more consumer and business activity with a reopened economy.

The Fed decided to keep its federal funds rate unchanged (in a range of 0%-0.25%) till the economy is “on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.” The current rate is what the central bank came up with in the middle of March, with an aim to battle the public health crisis. The benchmark rates are expected to stay unchanged for the next two and a half years.

Second, per a Bloomberg report, House Democrats on Jun 18 introduced the Moving Forward Act, which is a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill to boost the economy further in the current scenario. The bill is all set to be voted on before Jul 4 as the Trump Administration considers its own long-awaited infrastructure proposal.

The billhas allocated about $300 billion to build and repair roads and bridges and another $100 billion in transit options.

The bill also makes room for $100 billion for housing, $100 billion for broadband connectivity, $25 billion for clean drinking water and $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. To sum up, the bill holds the potential to drive the U.S. economy further ahead for quite some time since construction work usually spans over a long period.

Finally, increased consumer activity clearly paid off in May, given the record rise in retail sales in the month. Retail sales surged as much as 17.7% last month, as shoppers went back to the newly reopened stores. May’s uptick in retail sales was the biggest one-month surge in history, dating as far as 1992.

However, the number of new infections in the country has also increased, especially after the economy reopened. As many as 10 states have witnessed a spike in new cases in this week alone, with Florida showing signs of being the next epicenter.

Keeping the aforementioned factors in mind, it would be prudent to invest in a few stocks that have shown great resilience in terms of facing the pandemic and the lockdown.

3 Stocks to Buy

We have chosen three stocks that have delivered solid price performances over the past three months and could continue to do so, owing to their impressive expected earnings growth rate ahead. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chegg, Inc. CHGG isa distance learning company that offersonline education services. Earlier this month, the company acquired a premier global math solver called Mathway for about $100 million to expand its subject coverage and international reach.

In first-quarter 2020,Chegg reported quarterly earnings of 22 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. The company’s revenues of $131.59 million also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.47%.

Chegg’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 33%. Shares of the company, which belongs to the Zacks Internet - Software industry, have gained more than 100% over the past three months compared to the industry’s growth of 74.8%. Chegg carries a Zacks Rank #1.

California-based automakerTesla, Inc. TSLA hit the $1000 mark last week after Chief Executive Elon Musk encouraged the company to produce the Tesla Semi, its electric freight truck. The company’s approach to self-driving is a major factor behind its stock’s strength. In addition, Tesla is a major player in the arena of electric vehicles, which, needless to say, are ideal at a time when the world is pushing for clean energy endeavours.

Tesla’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. Shares of the company, which belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Domestic industry, have gained more than 100% over the past three months compared to the industry’s growth of 98.7%. Tesla carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Electronic document company DocuSign, Inc. DOCU has gained significantly from the sudden adoption of the work-from-home trend amid the pandemic. This change in business situation around the world led to a strong demand for the company’s eSignature product.

The company’s quarterly earnings of 12 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents. Its revenues of $297.02 million for the quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.05%.

DocuSign’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 54.8%. Shares of the company, which belongs to the Zacks Technology Services industry, have gained more than 100% over the past three months compared to the industry’s 49.9% growthriod. DocuSign carries a Zacks Rank #2.

5 Stocks to Soar Past the Pandemic: In addition to the companies you learned about above, we invite you to learn about 5 cutting-edge stocks that could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of the decade.

See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>


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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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