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Taiwan Semi Trades Bullishly Above Buy Points

Shares are in or near range from either an 84.10 or 86.89 entry. But investors might want to wait for a move to 91.37, clearing the Oct. 12 peak.

Latest Stories

  • Some wealthy Americans are already prepping their finances for a Joe Biden presidency — here’s how

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  • 7 Unhealthy Biotech Stocks To Sell Before They Sicken Your Portfolio

    While it’s a good idea to go through your portfolio at least once a quarter and evaluate how your stocks are doing, special circumstances dictate that you do it more scrupulously, and our present pandemic certainly counts. The markets are caught in limbo, awaiting another stimulus package after a massive run from late March through September. The biggest winners have been tech stocks, especially biotechs and pharmaceutical companies. Much of that hype initially centered on the race for a COVID-19 vaccine. But it then filtered through the entire industry, since many companies that were once small-time outsiders were launched into headliners with a cure.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Diagnostic companies, testing and healthcare equipment companies all started rising as well. But we’re in a different place now. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes Here are 7 unhealthy biotech stocks to sell before they sicken your portfolio: Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Heron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HRTX) Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) REGENXBIO (NASDAQ:RGNX) Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) China Biologic Products (NASDAQ:CBPO) Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) For these biotech stocks, the ardor has cooled. While these aren’t terrible stocks, they’re stocks best exited before a correction hits or their momentum slows further. Unhealthy Biotech Stocks to Sell: Galapagos NV (GLPG) Source: Jarretera / Shutterstock.com Based in Belgium, this biotech focuses on small molecule and antibody therapies, aiming to discover novel drug targets. Last summer, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) announced it was investing around $5 billion in the company, which sent the stock flying. But the pandemic crushed the stock and just as it began climbing back, it was hit by news that its osteoarthritis drug in development with GILD failed FDA trials. Even with the cash infusion, this is a costly setback, as the company has to spend more on trials that may or may not get it approval. And it pushes back the possible launch date and increases its burn rate. Down 40% year to date, there’s still more downside risk. Heron Therapeutics (HRTX) Source: Shutterstock While only sporting a $1.4 billion market cap, this biotech has two drugs recently approved by the FDA (one of which is coming this week). Both drugs are antiemetics (drugs that reduce nausea and vomiting) to be used in conjunction with chemotherapy for cancer patients. But its biggest ace, still in trials in the U.S. and the E.U., is a non-addictive, non-opioid painkiller. Unfortunately, the opioid epidemic has been supplanted by the pandemic. So this boutique biotech has been pushed to the back burner. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes Down 34% year to date, if the market sells off, HRTX is going with it. Ionis Therapeutics (IONS) Source: Shutterstock There’s a novel approach in biotech called antisense therapeutics. It basically alters pieces of messenger RNA so when the body builds new DNA strands from that RNA, it can help mitigate certain diseases. IONS has been involved in antisense therapeutics since 1989. And it has two drugs available in the U.S. and one in the E.U. All work to help people with rare diseases better manage their symptoms. The massive chemical conglomerate Bayer (OTCMKTS:BAYRY) is a partner and just recently took over development and production of an IONS clotting drug. IONS is down 23% year to date and there’s nothing, good or bad, that is going to move the stock anytime soon. REGENXBIO (RGNX) Source: Shutterstock Boasting a $1 billion market cap, RGNX has a number of partnerships with leading drug makers to use its gene therapy solutions for a variety of different pathologies. One of the drugs it worked on with Novartis (NYSE:NVS) was lucrative enough that RGNX didn’t have to look for cash for other projects by issuing more stock. Unfortunately, a big impending payment from NVS looks like it has been pushed further into the future due to an FDA ruling. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes The stock is down 33% year to date, and absent any other big news from its partners, is likely to hang fire at best. Illumina (ILMN) Source: Shutterstock This major gene sequencing company should be going gangbusters here. And it was doing pretty well after the March market dive. But in late September it announced it was re-buying cancer-screening start-up, Grail for $8 billion. Grail had been a division of ILMN a few years ago and it was spun off with big-name investors Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos buying in. ILMN stock got hammered on the announcement because many of the industry analysts couldn’t understand why it buy Grail back, since its leading product puts ILMN in direct competition with some of its other customers that are working on similar technologies. The stock has regained some of that value, but it’s still not clear how it’s going to move forward with this major purpose. Down 4% year to date, there’s as much risk as promise here, and it’s expensive. China Biologic Products (CBPO) Source: Shutterstock As the race for a vaccine or cure for COVID-19 continues around the globe, there are other diseases that still need attention as well. That’s where CBPO comes in. It has a portfolio of plasma-based drugs for the treatment of everything from tetanus and rabies to hepatitis B. The problem is, the pandemic has changed the priorities of both patients and healthcare professionals. And that has meant some conditions don’t rise to the level of attention they did before the pandemic. This can be seen in CBPO’s second-quarter earnings. Sales were off, while income and profits also lagged. And earnings missed consensus. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes While the stock is only off 2% year to date, it may be stuck here for a while. Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com LGND is a R&D contracting firm for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. It develops drug candidates and then it partners with a firm that will take it through trials and market it. This means LGND doesn’t bear the costs and risks associated with bringing a drug to market and the drug company doesn’t have to invest on an in-house R&D staff and facilities. LGND makes its money off negotiated royalty payments from its partners. Currently, LGND is receiving royalties from 9 different drugs on the market now. But the pandemic has shifted resources for its customer base, putting LGND in a tough spot. That’s best illustrated by the fact that 63% of its stock is now in short positions. The stock is already down 20% year to date. On the date of publication, Louis Navellier has no long positions in any of the stocks in this article. Louis Navellier did not have (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article.  The InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post 7 Unhealthy Biotech Stocks To Sell Before They Sicken Your Portfolio appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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  • The Top 10 Tech Stocks to Buy Before the 2020 Election

    The current investor sentiment around tech stocks is a polarizing one. Investors have a lot to consider with the upcoming election upon us. They also need to factor in the general performance of tech stocks this year, and consider how they might see these stocks perform moving forward.  Factors fueling worry here include a general sentiment that Democrat leaders are likely to impose stricter laws on large tech companies. Upcoming regulatory woes along with the sentiment that tech stocks are due for a correction characterize the narrative to rotate out of tech.  There was already strong sentiment from the left that these companies have been too dominant in the U.S. economy, and are anti-democratic. Recent news the form of a 449 page Congressional report adds fuel to that fire. Pundits expect that democrats will use the findings therein to bring forth bills against the large tech companies. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips One question to consider is the timeline of potential regulation. That is, if large-cap tech stocks find themselves under new regulations, when will that occur? Any bills will likely be introduced after the new year and into 2021 if Biden is elected. When such bills would be enacted is a harder question to answer. This answer from a former U.S. Congress employee suggests an average of 263 days, and a mean of 215 days. So, any new regulations would likely become law by mid-to-late 2021.     Tech giants aside, it’s also important to answer the question of which tech sectors should fare well in an economic recovery. A recovery looks likely to gain momentum on news that a vaccine will be available to all Americans by sometime mid-2021.  The Argument for Staying the Course Yes, tech stocks have driven the markets through this year. So, investors should at least question whether they are overweight. Yet, investors must also consider why so much capital has flowed into tech stocks in the first place.  Jack Ablin, Chief Investment Officer at Cresset Wealth Advisors remains pro-big tech. His bull thesis: “People have to keep in mind that the five largest tech companies make more in earnings than the entire Russell 2000 combined, so this isn’t the internet bubble.”  Michael Farr, president of Farr, Miller & Washington LLC contends that fundamentals are driving capital into big tech, and a divestment due to current headwinds would be “a sucker’s trade.” 10 Best Stocks for 2020: Megatrends Support This Year's Biggest Winners With all of that in mind, here are 10 tech stocks to buy for 2021: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM)  Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) A brief look at this list reveals my thesis: big tech will remain strong in 2021 and semiconductors will too.  Tech Stocks to Buy: Google (GOOG,GOOGL) Source: rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com Google isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Before looking at the fundamental financial reasons that it should continue to appreciate, let’s consider a negative scenario: Regulatory scrutiny ramps up following the election targeting the big four tech companies. Firstly, the timeline means that any potential legislation would be enacted after drawn out court battles. Not only does Google have the resources to fight in court, but it continues to lobby currently. The truth is that all of the big tech players are cozying up to the Democrats and Biden. In fact, Google, along with Amazon and Microsoft, is among the top five contributors to Biden’s campaign.  This is why investors should ultimately have little to fear regarding headlines implying a big tech breakup. Regardless of which party is in power. And that’s why I remain bullish on all of them. Google remains central to the internet, information dissemination and of course advertising. The company is an earnings machine, and that doesn’t look to be in any jeopardy. Q3 earnings estimates are expected to have risen by 11.15% when it reports earnings on Oct. 29. On an annual basis EBITDA has risen each year from 2016 to 2019 from $29 billion to over 47 billion.  The point here is simple: outside of election headlines and antitrust rhetoric, there’s little to substantiate the idea that Google has tangible trouble. None of this mentions any of the other holdings in the Alphabet portfolio. YouTube is a cash cow, and the company has plenty of future facing potential in Waymo among others. Not only should 2021 be bright, but so too should the longer term.  Microsoft (MSFT) Source: NYCStock / Shutterstock.com Microsoft should continue to grow in 2021 if past is prologue. In each of the first halves of the previous 3 years Microsoft has grown net income from $16.57 billion in 2018, to 39.24 billion in 2019, to $44.28 billion in 2020.  Investors should consider some trends that will factor into Microsoft’s 2021 performance as well. A few highlighted areas for investors to focus on directly from Microsoft’s Q2 earnings report include (page 35): Commercial cloud revenue increased 36% to $51.7 billion. Office 365 Commercial growth of 24%. LinkedIn revenue increased 20%. Server products and cloud services revenue increased 27%, driven by Azure growth of 56%. Azure and the cloud are going to continue to become increasingly important through next year and into the future. Microsoft has shown that it can sell these products and looks to be leading there. The company continues to sell Office 365 products very well. And Microsoft is beginning to see returns from its acquisition of LinkedIn. Any readers who have been on the platform for several years will note how rapid the transition has been. It feels much more geared toward commercial purposes now than in the past. This is evidenced by the revenue jump.  5 Keys to Find Small Stocks With 10X Potential Azure and cloud offers look to be particularly important to the future of the company as we’ve witnessed a shift and an acceleration toward cloud utilization in the pandemic.  Intel (INTC) Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com Intel is still Intel despite the headline ink that other chip makers have garnered in 2020. Earlier this year, the company announced that it was going to delay the release of its 7-nanometer chips. Initially the new chipsets were intended to be released late 2021. They were then pushed back to late 2022, or early 2023. The fear is that this opens the door for other competitors to swoop in leading to a weaker 2021.  Intel has overcome nearly this exact problem in the past. The company underwent delays in the release of its 10nm chips but still fared well financially. Intel should have little trouble weathering this delay. Intel’s new Tiger Lake chips compute quicker, using less energy. Demand has been strong with the chips slated to be included in the design of over 150 computers. And the company claims that the Tiger Lake chips are “24% faster than AMD’s Ryzen laptop chip.” Intel is claiming that these chips are significantly faster than rival chips in several measures and a leap over the Ice Lake chips they replace. With all of these factors in mind, INTC stock is a buy for 2021. As the legacy player, it should have few problems. It should be strong, and while rivals have shown their prowess, Intel is going nowhere.  Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Source: Joseph GTK / Shutterstock.com AMD stock has done great in 2020. Shares have appreciated roughly 69% year-to-date and about 170% over 12 months.  Recent news, which could pay dividends soon, includes its deal to buy Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX). The deal has not yet been finalized, but is in late stage talks. Although both companies are chip makers, they operate in disparate portions of the market. However, both have focused on data centers of late. Thus, the strategy is likely to beef up that effort among other things. Analyst Matthew Ramsay of Cowen notes that the deal looks appealing from the perspective that it could increase AMD’s earnings 10%-20% by 2023. Yet, he also notes that bottom line concerns are not the end-all, be-all, especially given the trade war’s effect on the semiconductor industry.  AMD stock is not without concerns. Specifically in terms of valuation there are some questions. AMD stock comes with a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 152x, which is in the lowest tenth of all semiconductor manufacturers. 7 Earnings Reports to Watch Next Week Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some selling to book profits or a temporary reversal in market sentiment. Nevertheless, 2021 looks bright.  Facebook (FB) Source: Chinnapong / Shutterstock.com Facebook is coming off of a September that saw its prices decline by about $40 per share. The company is a huge part of the election conversation and its policies make it a point of conversation, if not derision, and scrutiny. However, I believe Facebook will still be a top tech stock to buy for 2021 regardless of the outcome of the election. The company is always in the headlines and will continue to be due to its sheer size and influence. And I believe that calls for the breakup of Facebook are exaggerated and will bear no fruit. After all, Zuckerberg has been in front of Congress and the only thing that has slowed FB stock recently has been the novel coronavirus pandemic.  Facebook ad spending is likely to increase through the end of the year. We’ll have a vaccine sometime in 2021 and there is going to be an economic recovery. That’s going to mean more companies looking to spend money on Facebook ads to sell their products.  The company has also been making inroads into its e-commerce Shops service. Just how successful this venture will become, no one knows. However, this has long been a concern and something which the company has lacked. Facebook and Instagram users will now be able to engage in social commerce via Facebook. This should be a boon to the company. Instagram Reels also bodes well for the company. Now users can upload video to the platform which should increase engagement and expand the platform’s offerings.    Amazon (AMZN) Source: Mike Mareen / Shutterstock.com It’s easy to see why analysts are so positive on AMZN stock. The company has performed incredibly well throughout the pandemic. Over a longer term like 10 years, the gains have been phenomenal. Q2 earnings were $10.30 per share following what was supposed to have been $1.48 on consensus. That’s a part of the reason that 42 analysts have it a buy, while only 2 think it’s a hold, and 1 brave contrarian calls it a sell.  Overall, basically everything gets better and better for Amazon along broad lines. Sales growth has risen by about 30% in each of the past 5 years and beyond. Through Q2 North American sales have risen, international sales have risen and AWS sales have risen.  10 Best Stocks for 2020: Megatrends Support This Year's Biggest Winners And recall that Amazon is among the top contributors to Biden’s campaign. Not that it really matters. If Trump prevails in November this company is still going to be the king of commerce. And it’s hard to imagine that Democrats would be willing to breakup Amazon even if they could. Amazon is one of America’s greatest success stories. Damaging that wouldn’t exactly be a great way to start off a new presidency.  Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Taiwan Semiconductor has a lot of tailwinds which should propel it into the next year and beyond. On its own merits, it is strong. Those merits combined with its strategic alignment, make it very strong. The company operates foundries across Taiwan, a few in China, and a few in the U.S. Foundries themselves are the fabrication centers from which chips emerge. They’re also incredibly expensive to build, often costing into the billions.  TSMC is the largest pure play semiconductor foundry, but lags behind Samsung in production volumes. Samsung is a deeply diversified company with businesses spanning industry.  TSMC manufactures chips for over 500 other companies. Among them, Apple, Huawei, Sony (NYSE:SNE), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO). These chips are going to be integral to the trends leading the future including AI, VR and most advances in computing. TSMC is a Taiwanese company and is central to the trade wars. All semiconductor manufacturers are subject to this tension, perhaps none more so than TSMC.  The company will build a foundry in Arizona that will produce 5 nm chips in late 2023 at the earliest.  This deal signals political allegiance with the U.S. in the trade wars and in opposition to Chinese ascendancy in general. However, it is a small development on the basis of overall foundry footprint for the company. The Arizona move likely has a lot to do with the next tech stock to buy for 2021. Apple (AAPL) Source: Hadrian / Shutterstock.com There are few signs that Apple shows any slowing down going into 2021. This is another company that just seems to be forever winning. The company’s latest big news relates to semiconductors, which is not something it was previously known for. However, it is something which has long been a source of speculation around the company.  The company is now producing its own MacBooks powered by its own chips, and not Intel’s. The shift away from Intel is not news and the rumors of a breakup between the two have persisted for the past 5 years.  The company will unveil its Apple Silicon powered MacBook on Nov. 17. This release could rank up there with other company hallmarks as it portends profound change in the semiconductor landscape. Of course, the new MacBook is interesting in and of itself and may well bring in large revenues for the company.  7 Cryptocurrencies to Stand the Test of Time But this marks a potential change in the semiconductor landscape. Investors now need to consider Apple in a very different light. Yes it still makes iPhone, MacBooks and all of the other things it’s known for. But now the company is signaling its intent to play in this sphere.  Salesforce (CRM) Source: Bjorn Bakstad / Shutterstock.com Year-to-date CRM stock is up roughly 55%. And from the pandemic trough, it’s up over 100%. These are great signs for investors, yet it also poses a question: Is there growth left? I think so. The company’s presence in cloud through it’s cloud-based enterprise software is strong.  CRM stock has grown and grown over the past decade. Analysts favor it as a buy over a hold 33 to 4. Price targets go well over $300, meaning lots of upside from current prices.  The pandemic put several trends on steroids. They grew. Work from home won’t displace the office, but there will be more and more of it. Salesforce helps companies manage relationships, which is only going to make it more valuable.  Nvidia (NVDA) Source: Steve Lagreca / Shutterstock.com Nvidia is another chip maker on this list. That’s because chip makers aren’t going anywhere. NVDA stock may have arguable issues with some of its metrics, but it still is likely to appreciate in price. In 2020, the firm will derive most of its revenue from gaming and a significant portion from data centers. The company sees its growth being driven by gaming, AI, AR/VR and autonomous vehicles. Growth rates have been strong across those four areas. The 3-year CAGR across gaming, AI, AR/VR and autonomous vehicles has been 11%, 53%, 13% and 13%, respectively.  5 Keys to Find Small Stocks With 10X Potential The company is also building the world’s fastest supercomputer in Italy. Analysts are bullish on NVDA stock, and it should be strong into next year.  On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks. Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing.” More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post The Top 10 Tech Stocks to Buy Before the 2020 Election appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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  • 6 Tech Stocks Every Investor Should Watch

    Hardware is becoming software, so investors are dumping hardware. At the same time, software is moving to the world of the cloud. These trends undeniably shape what tech stocks you should be buying. Most computer chip companies today are “fab-less,” based not on manufacturing, but designs written in software. That is why Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) today is worth more than Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). At the same time, open-source software is replacing proprietary software, especially in the clouds, where the money is made. That is why Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is worth more than Oracle (NYSE:ORCL).InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips What does this mean for companies in the business of making computer hardware? It means they need to find new paths to profit. And that also means software names are the best tech stocks to buy. The biggest hardware makers are aware of this. The hope investors have for them is they can execute and return to prominence. Until they do, however, their growth and valuations will lag the market. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes For now, keep an eye on these six tech stocks as they pivot to the software world: International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Workhorse (NASDAQ:WKHS) Tech Stocks: International Business Machines (IBM) Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com Former IBM CEO Virginia Rometty missed the cloud. Under her watch, IBM went from being the world’s unquestioned technology leader to a laggard. Facebook is now worth over six times more. IBM has recognized its mistake. Rometty gave up the CEO chair in April to Arvind Krishna, who was running its cloud operations. He named Jim Whitehurst from Red Hat, the leading open source company in the world, as president. Since Krishna took over, however IBM stock has barely budged. Despite the cloud experience of its new leaders, IBM remains a hardware company. Its primary profit center remains its Z Series mainframes, and the proprietary software that runs on them. After delivering new versions in the second quarter, systems sales jumped 69%, year over year, to $1.9 billion, and profits rose 4.3%. But that profit center has been milked dry. Getting rid of older workers just drained its talent pool, and put the government’s eyes on it. It will take tricky financial engineering for IBM to find the cash flow needed to compete. It could sell the hardware units to private equity, spin out Red Hat, or spin its cloud operations into a REIT, as companies like Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) have done. For now, IBM says it’s focusing on “hybrid cloud.” Here, enterprises retain their own data centers built to cloud standards, then arbitrage larger public clouds like those of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). It’s also pushing its quantum computing efforts, although they won’t contribute to profit for years. Dell Technologies (DELL) Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com Dell Technologies is even bigger than International Business Machines and even more undervalued. The story starts in 2016, when Dell bought EMC, which controlled VMware (NYSE:VMW), for $67 billion. Four years later, $45 billion of the debt remains on Dell’s books. That means the “enterprise value” of Dell, including its debt, is $95 billion. The same calculation, applied to IBM, leads to an enterprise value of $165 billion, on revenue of $77 billion. VMware and IBM’s Red Hat are valuable because they offer virtualization and other cloud infrastructure software. It’s the kind of franchise the market often values at 10 times revenue. VMware had sales of about $11 billion for its fiscal 2020. Here is the problem. Because of the funky corporate structure, it is hard to value Dell. What is it really worth without its massive stake in VMware? The answer is to break Dell up again. Analysts think both companies would be worth more separate. Dell had fiscal 2020 net income of $4.6 billion. VMware could be worth $15-$20 per share more, nearly $10 billion. VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger says VMware could tie up with more hardware vendors if it were independent. Selling VMware would also bring Dell enough cash to retire its debt and compete more closely against Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE). HPE is currently killing it  in “hyperconverged” hardware, a key data center market, and now matches it in server market share. A spinoff is planned, with Dell and hedge fund partner Silver Lake maintaining a majority stake. The big issue? The move will not raise cash to pay down debt. Moreover, the split wouldn’t happen until September 2021. Even so, analysts call this a big win that will unlock Dell’s value in hardware, where many of its products are considered leaders. Take it all together, and a patient investor should do well buying Dell here. But you’re buying financial engineering, not the real kind. Tech Stocks: Cisco (CSCO) Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Cisco Systems has been adrift ever since Chuck Robbins became CEO in 2015 Robbins’ strategy has been to shift Cisco’s revenue from expensive networking gear to software subscriptions. It’s not working. The revenue today is the same as it was in 2016. Profits have been uneven. Still, the stock’s low price has analysts pounding the table for it, calling it cheap and undervalued. But that’s not how tech stocks work. When a company stops growing, it starts dying. A small cut tells the sharks to feed. Cisco has made a half-dozen security acquisitions since Robbins took over, and 11 acquisitions since the start of 2019. But it’s not solving the problem. The number of bugs hitting Cisco software is increasing. Some impact key products like its high-end switches. BabbleLabs is one of these recent deals, bought to improve its videoconferencing experience. But that only serves to underline Cisco’s weakness. Cisco practically invented videoconferencing. But when the pandemic hit, Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) became a verb. Cisco is now worth only 15% more than Zoom, which came public in April 2019 and covers just one of Cisco’s product niches. Competitors can smell blood in the water. Hewlett Packard Enterprise finished its acquisition of Silver Peak, a software-defined networking company that will be part of its Aruba unit. The move accelerates the shift of networking from a product to a service. It increases the pressure on Cisco. Nokia (NOK) Source: RistoH / Shutterstock.com The move of hardware to software, and of software becoming open source, has also hit the telecom equipment market hard. Nokia lost its niche in cell phones, bought into the equipment market, and is now seeing its lead there threatened. Part of the threat comes from China’s Huawei, which can make equipment for less and has been making inroads into the carrier market as a result. Nokia’s response is to support OpenRAN, a common set of interfaces for Radio Access Networks. Nokia has been using OpenRAN support mainly to compete with Huawei and its Scandinavian rival, Ericsson. It says a complete set of OpenRAN interfaces will be available next year. The hope now is that small, OpenRAN companies can be bought out, or parts of the emerging standards held back. That would let Nokia limit competition while still claiming openness. A short price war, initiated by the larger vendors, could quickly finish off the OpenRAN folks, analysts believe. But there’s another threat. Microsoft has already bought Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch, making its bid for an OpenRAN company look likely. Facebook is backing the Telecom Infra Project, the consortium that created OpenRAN. Open source, in other words, is coming. Will Nokia be able to main relevance among tech stocks? Tech Stocks: Ericsson (ERIC) Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com While Nokia has been beating a drum for OpenRAN, rival Ericsson has been dismissing the threat. Ericsson is copying the strategy of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), which has patents, copyrights and trademarks for all modem buyers to take its licenses. Importantly, these licenses come at a cost that makes rivals uncompetitive. But Qualcomm fought a bitter five-year legal war on three continents to achieve its dominance. Ericsson lacks that time, and it lacks that money. Ericsson insists that OpenRAN has security issues. It has already made its own equipment fully compliant with existing security and encryption standards. It has introduced an integrated packet core firewall to boost security further. This also increases its proprietary advantage. What might settle the dispute between open source and proprietary would be for Ericsson to buy Nokia. Rumors of such a deal were floated in February. President Donald Trump has been pushing for more control over the 5G equipment market, even suggesting Cisco Systems should buy one of the two Scandinavian companies. All this is leading to a new technology, Cloud RAN. This idea should dominate the new market for managed services, which is growing rapidly. What is this? The idea is to run radio networks according to what are called “cloud principles.” Ericsson is already pushing its own proprietary framework for this “journey.” Workhorse (WKHS) Source: rblfmr / Shutterstock.com Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) became the most valuable car company in the world by proving that cars represent technology, not manufacturing. This has spurred interest in other electric car companies like Workhorse. Since late June, WKHS stock has skyrocketed. Why? The reason is a U.S. Postal Service contract, which Workhorse has yet to win, for 140,000 electric mail trucks. Workhorse is one of three finalists. Its C1000 design features a light body with 1,000 cubic feet of storage, and a short range that recharges overnight. There is more than hype involved here. Workhorse’s first vans have traveled 8.5 million miles. It’s been in this niche for a decade. The trouble is its batteries are not yet competitive with gasoline engines. At the present price of $300 per kilowatt hour, a battery-powered van costs $30,000 to make. If Workhorse wins the postal contract, and if other last-mile companies follow suit, WKHS stock will be a big winner. But that’s a lot of ifs. This makes Workhorse less an investment than a speculation. Don’t bet any money on this stock you can’t afford to lose. There’s reason to speculate. It’s probable that, over the next decade, electric vehicles will take over the market. It’s likely that, in last-mile delivery, with a limited number of players, this can happen quickly. Contracts offered at scale are always valuable, and often profitable. But there is a lot of wishful thinking going on here. If the niche Workhorse is focused on proves out, why won’t Tesla just take it? At the time of publication, Dana Blankenhorn held long positions in AMZN, NVDA and MSFT. Dana Blankenhorn has been a financial and technology journalist since 1978. His latest book is Technology’s Big Bang: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with Moore’s Law, essays on technology available at the Amazon Kindle store. Follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn.  More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post 6 Tech Stocks Every Investor Should Watch appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Why GoodRx Stock Is Now a Screaming ‘BUY’

    When GoodRx (NASDAQ:GDRX) stock debuted in September, its price immediately leaped 60%, peaking at $57 in early October. Regular investors couldn’t have bought shares at any reasonable value, so I wrote GDRX stock off as “yet another high-priced 2020 IPO.” Source: II.studio / Shutterstock.com Shares, however, have since declined to a more reasonable $52. At this price, it’s time to take a serious look into this game-changing company. That’s because, in April, the federal agency responsible for Medicare changed its guidelines on telemedicine reimbursements. With insurers now required to cover remote doctor visits at parity, the floodgates for telehealth companies like GoodRx have finally opened. And with its high-growth strategy and proven executive team, GoodRx is in pole position to become the next Amazon of healthcare.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips GoodRx Stock: From Pharmacy to Telehealth As I’ve emphasized before, investments with 1,000% potential returns need three key things: A growing market. A proven product or management team. A catalyst that tells us, “why now?” The fourth qualification — price — is also essential, but depends more on market size. Miss one of them, and you end up with either 1) a well-run but slow-growing company or 2) a high-potential firm that goes nowhere. Fortunately for investors, GoodRx hits all three qualifications for a 1,000% returner. The company was founded in 2011 by former Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) engineers, and its flagship product, an online prescription price comparison tool, already has almost 5 million monthly users. The firm is highly profitable, and its telehealth marketplace opened at just the right moment in history. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes So, for those who are tired of high-priced, money-losing IPOs, here’s why GoodRx stock looks different. Reason No. 1: CMS Gives GoodRx Stock A Real Catalyst With new technologies, people should always ask: “Why now?” That’s because innovations often need the right environment to grow. Video sharing sites like ShareYourWorld.com (founded in 1997) wouldn’t have worked until high-speed broadband came around in the mid-2000s. And in medicine, mail-order pharmacies and telehealth companies have been around for years. Pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company Catamaran had a large mail service pharmacy, which UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) eventually bought in 2015 for $12.8 billion. Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC), a telemedicine company, has been around since 2002. Yet, telehealth still makes up just 1.5% of the healthcare market. And that’s why catalysts are so crucial to high-growth companies like GoodRx. Covid-19 Creates a Catalyst In April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created a flurry of new reimbursement regulations to allow doctors and patients to stay home. Under Section 1135 waivers, healthcare providers can now provide virtually all non-physical services online. That includes everything from new patient visits to wheelchair management training. And where Medicare goes, the rest of insurance follows. As private insurers realign billing practices to mirror Medicare, investors should expect both supply and demand of telehealth medicine to skyrocket. And that’s where GoodRx comes in. Reason No. 2: GoodRx and a Growing Market Today, GoodRx earns money from its prescription drug price comparison website. Users can search for the cheapest drug providers, and GoodRx receives a commission from PBMs for the referral. It’s an extremely lucrative business (earning the company eye-popping 36% margins in 2019) and growing revenues at 50% per year. Independently, GoodRx might be worth $20 billion in that space. Then something even more interesting happened. In April 2019, the company acquired telehealth company HeyDoctor, and in March 2020, it launched the GoodRx Telehealth marketplace. These additions couldn’t have come at a better time. In 2018, Americans spent $335 billion on prescription drugs, according to the CMS. And a large portion is still covered by insurance, reducing the usefulness of GoodRx’s price comparison tool. On the other hand, physician services took in $564 billion, which makes it a far broader market for telehealth. And that doesn’t include possible telehealth applications, in-home healthcare ($102 billion annual spend), other personal care ($552 billion) or nursing care ($168 billion). If GoodRx can turn its highly efficient marketing funnel toward acquiring telehealth customers, the company could become worth multiples of its current valuation. Reason No. 3: Strong Product, Strong Management The numbers paint a flattering picture of the online health company. GoodRx has been profitable since 2016, an impressive feat for a fast-growing software company. It’s consistently kept R&D and administrative spending under control, using just 3.7% of revenues on overhead costs. And its share-based compensation of just $3.7 million in 2019 also indicates a focus on shareholder value. Recent IPO Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW), by comparison, awarded $78.3 million in share-based compensation in 2020, despite generating just 68% of GoodRx’s revenue and negative profits. And what about its actual product? App reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with users applauding the company over their prescription drug savings. GoodRx needs excellent customer experiences to keep its pipeline of referrals up. What’s GoodRx Stock Worth? Here’s where investors should rightly worry. The company’s monthly users dropped from 5 million in March to 4.2 million in April when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Though users have steadily climbed back to 4.9 million, it’s a reminder that GoodRx must fight for repeat customers. (Mail-order pharmacies, on the other hand, generate endless income streams from chronic prescriptions). There are also other concerns: Single-payer healthcare reform could instantly sink the GoodRx pharmacy franchise — users would no longer have a reason to price-compare drugs. A stronger competitor could also derail the online healthcare firm’s growth. And that makes GoodRx challenging to value. A traditional two-stage DCF model that grows revenues to $9 billion by 2030 pegs the company at a $34 billion enterprise value, or $92 per share. That’s an 84% upside. However, raising the discount rate (a measure of risk) to 11% drops fair enterprise value to $20.2 billion, or $52 per share. A more aggressive approach might use a venture-capital (VC) method of market sizing. It’s less precise but gives better insight into untapped markets. Currently, analysts expect the global telehealth industry to grow 23.4% annually through 2026. Suppose we assume that U.S. telehealth grows faster at 55% (thanks to the CMS rule change). That suggests a $142 billion market by 2026, or 2.5% of total healthcare spending. If GoodRx receives a 12% “take rate” and obtains a 30% market share, it would earn $5.1 billion from telehealth revenues alone. Adding another $4 billion from pharmacy services and a 8x price-sales (PS) multiple puts value at $72.8 billion, or almost $200 per share. All this means that GoodRx still has a lot to prove. Even though it hits all three “high-growth” company points, we won’t know for years if it’s the next successful Amazon or the next failing Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK). But until then, it could be worthwhile to make a small wager. Because in the world of high-growth investing, it just takes one winner to make your portfolio shine. On the date of publication, Tom Yeung did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Tom Yeung, CFA, is a registered investment advisor on a mission to bring simplicity to the world of investing. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post Why GoodRx Stock Is Now a Screaming ‘BUY’ appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Trump has faced a decade-long tax audit — here’s how long IRS audits usually take and which taxpayers are most likely to get audited

    President Trump has described his audit as ‘very routine,’ but legal experts say it is quite unusual.

  • U.S Mortgage Rates Fall to Yet another All-time Low

    Mortgage rates dipped to another all-time low in the week ending 22nd October. Expect COVID-19 and U.S politics to continue to influence in the week.

  • Cenovus Energy to buy Husky Energy for $24 billion

    The combined company is expected to generate annual synergies of $1.2 billion and will operate as Cenovus Energy Inc with headquarters in Alberta, Canada, the statement said. Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix will serve as chief executive of the merged company with Jeff Hart, currently Husky's finance chief, becoming chief financial officer. Cenovus said the combined company will be the third largest Canadian oil and natural gas producer with production of 750,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of low-cost oil and natural gas.

  • 3 Utility Stocks With Tried-and-True Gains

    The utility sector comprises companies that provide essential products and services, including water, electricity, natural gas, sewage, and other services. The sustained demand for these services has helped utility stocks generate stable earnings. Due to the reliability of earnings, these companies can effectively payout dividends at significantly higher average yields. Hence, the unmatched combination of income generation and profitability makes utility stocks an excellent low-risk option for investors. This year, the utility stocks represented by the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLU) have underperformed the broader market. The S&P 500 grew 6% since the beginning of the year, while the Utilities ETF fell by nearly 2%.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes Tech stocks have ruled the roost this year, but utility stocks’ importance in a well-rounded portfolio cannot be denied either. Therefore, let’s look at three utility stocks that remained resilient despite the effects of the pandemic. American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Utility Stocks: American Water Works (AWK) Source: Shutterstock American Water Works provides regulated water and wastewater services to homeowners and the military. It is currently the largest water and wastewater utility company in the U.S. Additionally, it also makes money using specific market-based activities. It remained resilient in the face of the pandemic, as AWK stock grew 13.7% relative to the S&P 500. It recently reported its solid second-quarter results. Earnings per share (EPS) for six months ended June 30 was at $1.65, roughly 5.8% compared to the prior-year period. Income from its regulated business was $177 million, compared to $156 million in the same period last year. Additionally, income from market-based activities also increased by $2 million. Despite the slowdown in water usage in the country, the increase in prices has helped offset revenues’ impact. Moreover, the directors announced a quarterly cash dividend payment of 55 cents per share. Hence, the dividend growth rate for the past year for the company is around 10%. American Water Works expects to grow its EPS and dividends at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 7% to 10% from 2019 to 2024. NextEra Energy (NEE) Source: madamF / Shutterstock.com NextEra Energy is the most valuable energy company in terms of market capitalization in the U.S. It runs regulated electric utilities in Florida and a nonregulated energy business operating natural gas and renewable energy projects. Additionally, it boasts one of the most robust financial profiles in the sector, with the highest credit ratings among businesses of its kind. NEE stock’s 12-month return relative to the S&P 500 is at a healthy 19.3%. The company reported its second-quarter results back in July, which was weighed down by the pandemic. The adjusted EPS for the quarter was at $2.61, surpassing expectations by 4.4%. However, revenues were down 15.4%. Revenues across all its segments lagged behind consensus estimates. Nevertheless, the company’s earnings are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% to 8% per year through 2021. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes Its financial strength continues to impress as cash and cash equivalents were up 268% crossing the $1 billion mark. Moreover, the company plans to increase its dividend by approximately 10% per year through 2022. AES Corporation (AES) Source: zhao jiankang / Shutterstock.com AES is one of the largest electric utility companies in the U.S. operating in multiple nations. It has one of the most diversified portfolios of distribution and electricity generation businesses. Additionally, it is among the top electric utility companies leading the charge towards renewable energy. AES stock’s 12-month return relative to the S&P 500 is at a solid 10.9%. The pandemic weighed down the company’s second-quarter results. Adjusted EPS was down 3.8% to 25 cents while revenues dropped 11.3%. Despite the slowdown, the management feels that market demand is better than their expectations, and collections are in line with historical levels. The company expects a 7% to 9% average growth rate for its business through to 2022. AES is betting heavily on the green revolution and hopes to generate less than 10% of its electricity from coal by 2030. It is aggressively retiring its coal plants and remains focused on increasing its renewable plants. On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post 3 Utility Stocks With Tried-and-True Gains appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Long-Term Investors Can Consider Investing in Nokia

    Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone event on Oct. 13 has made many investors more interested in the shares of companies that are involved in the 5G space. One such name is Nokia stock. Source: RistoH / Shutterstock.com Recent research by Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs determined that “5G-enabled industries have the potential to add $8 trillion to global GDP by 2030, as COVID-19 accelerates medium and long-term digital investment and value creation… Companies at an advanced level of 5G adoption were the only group to experience a net increase in productivity (+10%) following COVID-19, and the only group able to maintain or increase customer engagement during the pandemic.” The report continues, “across 8 economies  – Australia, Germany, Finland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UK and the US – 50% of companies are at the midway level on 5G readiness, between initial planning, trials and deployment, compared to just 7% that are classed as 5G mature.”InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Now investors may wonder if they should buy the shares of Nokia, one of the companies that is leading the global deployment of 5G networks. The company is expected to report earnings at the end of October. Between now and then, Nokia stock may be choppy, especially given the increased volatility levels of the stock market during this busy earnings season. However, long-term investors may regard dips by Nokia as a good opportunity to buy its shares. Here’s why. Nokia’s Q2 Results Finland-based Nokia makes telecom-grade networking equipment. In 2013, it sold its fading mobile-phone business to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Then management changed course, re-positioning the company as a networking firm, and, more recently, as a 5G-equipment business. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes The company released its Q2 results in late July. Last quarter, Nokia’s sales dropped 11% year-over-year to 5.09 billion euros. On the other hand, its profit, excluding certain items, came in at 316 million euros, compared to 258 million euros during the same period a year earlier. Investors were pleased with Nokia’s cash flow and profitability. Over the past several quarters, Nokia has been increasing its large-scale capital investments, particularly in 5G networking. Its most important clients are communication service providers. The company has signed several important deals to introduce 5G networks in a number of countries. For instance, in late September, it signed a major 5G equipment agreement with BT (OTCMKTS:BTGOF), the U.K.’s biggest telecom  company. In October, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) announced it had chosen  Nokia to provide private 5G networks outside the U.S., mainly in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. NASA has also recently selected Nokia as a partner to build the first LTE/4G communications system on the moon. Analysts believe that, going forward, the proliferation of 5G technology will likely drive Nokia’s growth. Their median price target on Nokia stock is $5.27. The shares’ forward price-earnings and price-sales ratios stand at 12.94 and 0.89, respectively. More value investors may begin to buy the shares. The Bottom Line on Nokia Stock In recent quarters, Nokia’s management has put more emphasis on getting 5G contracts. Its recent 5G wins have shown that those efforts are beginning to pay off. I believe that Nokia stock price will likely go over $5 in the coming weeks, and it could possibly go even higher than that. Therefore, long-term investors should consider buying it around its current levels. Meanwhile, the company could even become a takeover target. Alternatively, those investors who are interested in 5G names but do not want to buy the stock may consider purchasing the shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that owns the company. Examples of such funds include the Defiance 5G Next Gen Connectivity ETF (NYSE:FIVG), the First Trust IndXX NextG ETF (NASDAQ:NXTG), and the Defiance Quantum ETF (NYSE:QTUM). On the date of publication, Tezcan Gecgil did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Tezcan Gecgil has worked in investment management for over two decades in the U.S. and U.K. In addition to formal higher education in the field, she has also completed all 3 levels of the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) examination. Her passion is for options trading based on technical analysis of fundamentally strong companies. She especially enjoys setting up weekly covered calls for income generation. She also publishes educational articles on long-term investing. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post Long-Term Investors Can Consider Investing in Nokia appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Ant Group IPO pricing "history's largest", says Alibaba's Jack Ma

    The mammoth dual listing for Chinese fintech giant Ant Group will be the world's biggest, according to a pricing determined on Friday night, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said on Saturday. "It's the first time that the pricing of such a big listing - the largest in human history - has been determined outside New York City" he told the Bund Summit in the eastern financial hub of Shanghai. Backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Ant plans to list simultaneously in Hong Kong and on Shanghai's STAR Market in the coming weeks.

  • Workhorse Group Is a Buy Even with the USPS Contract Delay

    With the pedal to the metal, electric vehicle stocks show no signs of slowing. In fact, most could see far more upside including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Nio (NYSE:NIO), and most notably, Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:WKHS) and WKHS stock. Source: Photo from WorkHorse.com The last time I weighed in on the stock, I said, “While the shares won’t explode overnight, I strongly believe that they could double. I said the same thing as the stock traded at $17.03 before it ran to nearly $31 a share.” Granted, the stock recently pulled back after the U.S. Postal Service delayed its contract decision, but there’s still opportunity here. Remember, just because the contract was delayed doesn’t mean Workhorse Group is out of the running.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips The WKHS stock could still run higher again on the anticipation of a coming decision. 7 Airline Stocks to Buy on Pelosi Stimulus Hopes After all, the postal service is still in desperate need of upgrading its ancient fleet of vehicles. And Workhorse Group is still in the running. From here, I strongly believe the WKHS stock could rally back to nearly $31 a share again soon. Workhorse Could See All or Part of the USPS Award I also wouldn’t get too wound up over the recent downgrade from Roth Capital’s Craig Irwin. He recently downgraded WKHS stock from a buy to a hold, with a target cut to $27. While the contract was delayed, it’s a temporary setback. Weakness in the stock is a buy opportunity, in my opinion. And sure, according to the postal service, as quoted by Barron’s said, “Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on Postal Service and supplier operations, an award(s) is currently planned for the production phase by the end of the calendar year.” But, as noted by Barron’s contributor Al Root, “The potential addition of an “s” to award is significant. It raises the possibility of multiple winners. That’s good for Workhorse’s business because it raises the odds of success.” In addition, while it’s not a certainty Workhorse will win the postal service contract, investors can still make money on the stock on the anticipatory momentum. For example, buy now and simply wait for the momentum to build up ahead of the contract date. Electric Vehicle Boom Shows No Signs of Slowing Tesla just blew earnings out of the water, with hopes of selling half a million EVs this year. EPS of 76 cents was well above expectations for 57 cents. Revenue of $8.77 billion was above estimates for $8.36 billion. That’s only creating even more excitement over EV stocks. Helping, General Motors (NYSE:GM) just announced it would invest $2.2 billion in U.S. manufacturing to increase EV production.  Better, governments around the world are forcing millions into EVs. In the U.S. for example, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that will ban the sale of gas-powered passenger cars in the state starting in 2035. That’s further fuel for the EV boom. In short, the electric vehicle boom has only started. With it, we could see further upside in related stocks like Workhorse Group easily. This is another reason to buy WKSH stock on weakness. Most Analysts Still Seem to Like WKHS Stock Over the last month, Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch said WKHS stock was a leader in last-mile deliveries. He has a price target of $23. And, as I noted on Sept. 25, “Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne is impressed by WKHS stock. “The [second half production] ramp remains on track and management continues to target [making] 300 [to] 400 vehicles by the end of the year. After a tough few quarters, we see greener pastures ahead.” While I don’t expect the stock to explode overnight, I still believe we could see $31 again soon. The postal service contract is still on the table. It was only delayed, not canceled. Use recent weakness as an opportunity to buy. On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.  Ian Cooper, an InvestorPlace.com contributor, has been analyzing stocks and options for web-based advisories since 1999. As of this writing, Ian Cooper did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company The post Workhorse Group Is a Buy Even with the USPS Contract Delay appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Stock Wars: ExxonMobil Vs. NextEra, A Battle Of Old Vs. New In Energy

    The days of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) being the most valuable energy company in the U.S. are over, with the newer NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE: NEE) passing the oil giant's market capitalization.ExxonMobil was also recently passed by rival Chevron (NYSE: CVX) as America's most valuable oil company.This marked the first time ExxonMobil has lost that title dating back to its days as Standard Oil Co. a century ago.About ExxonMobil: ExxonMobil is one of the largest oil companies in the world and owner of brands like Exxon, Mobil, Esso and XTO.At the end of 2019, Exxon Mobil had 8,728 million bbls of proven crude oil reserves and 1,597 million bbls of natural gas liquids. The company also has over 10,000 retail sites in the U.S. and more than 21,000 worldwide.ExxonMobil has been one of the largest companies in the United States by revenue. The company is one of only three companies to top the Fortune 500 list and one of 54 companies to appear on every list since it was first published in 1955.About NextEra Energy: NextEra's Florida Power & Light segment dates back to 1925 and serves 5 million customers in Florida. It's the largest electric utility in the U.S. on the basis of retail electricity produced and sold.The company's Gulf Power Co. serves 470,000 Florida customers.Generating more wind and solar energy than any other company in the world, NextEra Energy is considered one of the top clean energy producers.NextEra Energy Resources, the company's clean energy division, was formed in 1998 and operates in 37 states and four Canadian provinces.Related Link: Rockefeller Descendants Push For Banks To Stop Financing Fossil Fuel CompaniesExxon, NextEra Financials: Exxon Mobil reported revenue of $255.6 billion in fiscal 2019.This was the second-highest amount from the company over the last five years, only trailing fiscal 2018's total of $279.3 billion.Net income of $14.3 billion was the second-lowest of the last five years.One of the concerns around ExxonMobil is its high debt load of $26.3 billion and its ability to pay its dividend, which typically is increased every year.The company reported earnings per share of $3.36 in fiscal 2019, lower than its annual payout of $3.43 in dividends per share.NextEra Energy has grown its revenue from $17.5 billion in fiscal 2015 to $19.2 billion in fiscal 2019.Net income was $3.4 billion in fiscal 2019, a decrease from the two prior fiscal years.The company reported earnings per share of $7.82 in fiscal 2019. The company believes earnings per share will rise more than 10% each year going forward.Exxon, NextEra Stock Performance: Exxon Mobil shares are down 52% in 2020. Shares have fallen 58% over the last five years and around 50% in the last 10 years.Shares of NextEra Energy are up 24% in 2020. The stock has gained over 190% in the last five years and over 430% in the last 10 years.What's Next: NextEra Energy could be a winning stock if Joe Biden wins the 2020 presidential election. The company has a vision to be the largest and most profitable clean energy provider in the world. Biden favors clean energy investments going forward.NextEra Energy believes wind and solar will increase in usage as their prices decline and fall more in line with natural gas and other fossil fuel sources.A TechCrunch article notes the large investments by Blackstone, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), BlackRock, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Bill Gates have made in the clean energy sector.ExxonMobil has been slow to adapt to moving past fossil fuels.The energy sector has been among the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500.Exxon Mobil was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2020 after 92 years in the popular market index.Photo courtesy of NextEra Energy.See more from Benzinga * Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas * Exxon Mobil's Dividend Yield Hits 10%: What Investors Need To Know(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Boeing's 'Pivotal Moment': Analyst Says Company Needs New Airplane

    Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) investors got some good news recently when European regulators cleared the 737 Max for takeoff. However, one analyst says Boeing still has a number of major challenges ahead in the near-term.The Boeing Analyst: Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein reiterated his Neutral rating and $175 price target for Boeing.The Boeing Thesis: Epstein said the unprecedented downturn in the aviation industry, the 737 Max problems and Boeing's market share loss to Arbus has created a perfect storm for the company and its investors. In addition, Boeing recently terminated a $4.2 billion deal to take a stake in Brazilian aircraft producer Embraer."Given the prolonged grounding of the 737 MAX and the termination of ERJ deal, we view BA's narrowbody portfolio as strategically disadvantaged vs. Airbus over the medium-term," Epstein wrote in a note.In fact, Epstein said Airbus is on track to expand its market share from 51% today to 57% by the mid-2020s.Related Link: Boeing 737 Max Cleared For Takeoff After 19-Month Grounding, European Regulator SaysTo combat all these difficult headwinds, Epstein said Boeing needs to bite the bullet and invest in developing a new Future Single Aisle airplane. Making the decision to invest in a new model today wouldn't have an impact on Boeing's financial situation for years, but Epstein said it could help change the trajectory of Boeing's business in the long-term.For now, the next several quarters will continue to be difficult for the company. In the third quarter, Boeing received 58 net order cancellations and removed another 141 orders from its backlog. Epstein estimates Boeing now has at least 450 737 Max planes and at least 40 787s in excess inventory representing about $20 billion in working capital.Bank of America s projecting Boeing will burn $18.6 billion in free cash flow in 2020 and another $1.1 billion in 2021.Benzinga's Take: Boeing will certainly participate in any broad market recovery rally once the airline industry starts to improve. Unfortunately, the company has plenty of company-specific problems that may weigh on the stock's performance in the long-term relative to other aerospace stocks.Latest Ratings for BA DateFirmActionFromTo Oct 2020Credit SuisseMaintainsNeutral Sep 2020Alembic GlobalUpgradesNeutralOverweight Sep 2020Morgan StanleyInitiates Coverage OnUnderweight View More Analyst Ratings for BA View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga * Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas * How Large Option Traders Are Playing GE's Stock After Regulators Clear 737 Max * How Large Option Traders Are Playing Boeing As Order Backlog Shrinks Further(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.