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Which top stocks are Wall Street analysts the most bullish on? I mean stocks with no "hold" or "sell" ratings and a pure "strong buy" analyst consensus. These are the strong buy stocks that make the most compelling investing opportunities and are definitely worth keeping a close eye on.
Using TipRanks powerful stock screener , I set out to pinpoint seven stocks that command the unanimous support of the Street. You can customize the screener settings to match your investment strategy. In this case, I selected filters for stocks of all market cap size with a "strong buy" consensus from analysts and best-performing analysts alike. These are the top analysts with the highest success rate and average return.
Here I specifically select stocks with big upside potential from the current share price. This is based on the upside potential from the current share price to the average analyst price target.
Now let's delve into these seven top stocks to buy now:
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Strong Buy Stocks: Exact Sciences (EXAS)
Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAS ) has just received five back-to-back buy ratings from the Street. These "buys" flooded in following stellar Q4 earnings results. EXAS delivered a solid Q4 revenue beat and raised its 2019 revenue guidance to $710 million-$730 million, above its prior $700 million estimate. Plus the future looks bright for sales for its Cologuard DNA test for colon cancer.
"EXAS is one of our top picks for 2019, and we reiterate our "buy" rating and our $100 PT" cheers five-star Canaccord Genuity analyst Mark Massaro (Track Record & Ratings) . He continues: "Exact continues to execute at a high level and isn't afraid to make big investments to hit its ambitious goal of achieving $6 billion of revenue for Cologuard over time." That would give the company over 40% market share for its revolutionary screening product, first launched back in 2014.
According to Massaro, even the new revenue guidance is beatable, writing "we see a path to upside to our raised estimates." A similar message comes from Baird's Catherine Ramsey. She writes: "We continue to see the potential for upside… and EXAS remains one of our top ideas."
The average analyst price target right now stands at $104. Bear in mind shares have surged 45% year-to-date. Want to learn more about Exact Sciences? Get the free EXAS Stock Research Report.
Source: Shutterstock
OpenText (OTEX)
Canadian cloud computing stock Open Text Corp (NASDAQ: OTEX ) develops and sells enterprise information management (EIM) software. Essentially, this helps organizations safely manage and share business information.
Since the company's inception in 1991, OpenText has deployed around $6 billion capital on acquisitions. Using these acquisitions, OTEX can cement its position as a leader in the EIM space.
"Our strategy is total growth," says CEO Mark Barrenechea said, "where M&A will continue to be our largest growth driver, augmented with organic growth." So far this strategy appears to be paying off.
The company just reported Q2 above expectations on stronger license and cloud revenue. "A trifecta of positive organic growth, record margins and healthy FCF" is how RBC Capital's Paul Treiber (Track Record & Ratings) summed up the report.
He reiterates his buy rating, as "We believe OpenText is likely to continue to create shareholder value through its acquisition strategy." Overall, five analysts have published recent bullish calls on the stock. That's with a $46.75 average price target - 23% upside potential from the current share price. Shares are up 17% year-to-date. Get the OTEX Stock Research Report.
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Moderna (MRNA)
Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA ) is a pioneer in a new class of medicines made of messenger RNA, or mRNA. The potential implications of using mRNA as a drug are significant and far-reaching. No less than eight analysts have published recent buy ratings on the stock.
Right now the company just reported positive results from an ongoing phase Ib trial. This is for mRNA-1653, an mRNA-based vaccine for the treatment of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and parainfluenza virus (PIV3).
"The interim phase I data announced today support our outlook for this experimental product and support advancing studies in the pediatric population" explains Oppenheimer's Leah R Cann (Track Record & Ratings) . mRNA-1653 is one of Moderna's 21 current programs, and importantly, one of its 13 focus programs.
She points out that currently there are no approved vaccines to prevent hMPV or PIV3 infections, and estimates that worldwide mRNA-1653 sales could reach $1.44 billion by 2030. That's with a predicted launch date of 2024.
With a $27 price target, Cann sees upside potential of 19% for the coming months. Shares are currently surging over 40% in 2019. Get the MRNA Stock Research Report.
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Nexstar Media (NXST)
Following its completion of the Media General acquisition, Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST ) owns 171 television stations. As the largest TV station operator in the U.S. reaching nearly 39% of households, Nexstar Media Group is a stock worth watching.
Analysts certainly seem to think so. Nexstar has received six recent buy calls from the Street. Most notably, Evercore ISI's David Joyce (Track Record & Ratings) upgraded NXST from "hold" to "buy" back in December. As a result, the stock now scores unanimous support.
Crucially, the company is on the verge of a fresh acquisition. It has agreed a $6.4 billion deal to buy Tribune's ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC stations- and now all that's needed is regulatory approval. What's more, to help avoid any anti-trust issues, Nexstar has announced that it would sell 14 stations.
"We assign Nexstar an Outperform rating and a $112 price target. We believe that the Tribune acquisition should create significant value for shareholders" top RBC Capital analyst Leo Kulp tells investors. He ramped up his price target from $96 to $112 (23% upside potential)
"We see limited risk around regulatory approvals … We expect the FCF yield to moderate as the company completes the milestones to closing the deal and de-levers post-closing" the analyst added. Get the NXST Stock Research Report.
Source: Ace Via on Flickr
Boyd Gaming (BYD)
Shares in Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD ) have exploded by 11% in just five days. That's thanks to a pretty exceptional earnings report for the Paradise, Nevada-based casino company. "BYD's 4Q18 operating results were nothing short of sensational" exclaims five-star Stifel Nicolaus analyst Steven Wieczynski (Track Record & Ratings) .
"As we get late into EPS season, we believe we have seen the best print to date, with BYD's strong 4Q18 results tonight, an exclamation point on a strong 2018, with guidance above expectations serving as the cherry on top" the analyst continued.
With widespread growth throughout the business, BYD EBITDAR came in at $208.6mm, easily surpassing the estimated $197.1 million. Meanwhile 2019 EBITDAR guidance was established at a healthy $885 million-910 million, the midpoint of which was above Consensus forecasts ahead of the print ($888 million).
"Post the strong 4Q18 results and with, we believe BYD is well positioned to continue to show healthy and steady same-store growth, while continuing to integrate its accretive acquisitions from the 2H18" writes Deutsche Bank's Carlo Santarelli (Track Record & Ratings) .
That's with a "very compelling" current valuation to boot. With a "strong buy" analyst consensus, BYD boasts five recent buy ratings and a $37.80 average price target (22% upside potential). Get the BYD Stock Research Report.
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LivePerson (LPSN)
As the name suggests, LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN ) provides online real-time assistance and expert advice. The cloud-based chat company has just hit all-time highs following its strongest revenue growth in three years. For the third time in a row, LPSN reported 14% quarterly revenue growth. Shares are now up 50% year-to-date.
Going forward, analysts are firmly bullish about LivePerson's outlook. Seven analysts have published recent buy ratings on the stock, including five-star Oppenheimer analyst Koji Ikeda (Track Record & Ratings) .
"We believe LivePerson is well positioned to take share in a large B2C messaging opportunity that is disrupting the contact center" writes Ikeda. "Organizations around the world are under pressure to rethink and retool legacy technologies with next-generation customer engagement applications, like LivePerson, to better engage, retain, and generate revenue from the end-consumer" the analyst explains.
He believes that over time, good execution in quarterly results and improving business fundamentals should narrow the valuation gap between LPSN and the SaaS Industry average. That makes it a great strong buy stock. Get the LPSN Stock Research Report.
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Cubic Corp (CUB)
Growth remains par for the course for Irish defense contractor Cubic Corp (NYSE: CUB ).
The company has three key business divisions. For investors, it is the company's flagship Cubic Transportation Systems unit that is worth keeping an eye on. According to the company, this is the division responsible for "automated fare payment, traffic management and enforcement solutions."
Indeed, transport systems revenue was up 24% year over year, according to CUB's most recent earnings report. Consequently, Citigroup's Jonathan Raviv cited recent wins- especially in transport- as behind his bullish take on the stock.
Meanwhile, Drexel Hamilton's David Williams (Track Record & Ratings) writes: "We remain positive on CUB and expect further acquisitions to supplement top and bottom-line growth, which is likely to drive short term upside to expectations, and provide a strong long-term growth trajectory."
As such, the analyst reiterates his "buy" rating and $85 price target (38% upside potential) on this strong buy stock. Six analysts give the stock a buy rating, while their average price target works out at $76.80. Get the CUB Stock Research Report.
TipRanks.com offers exclusive insights for investors by focusing on the moves of experts: Analysts, Insiders, Bloggers, Hedge Fund Managers and more. See what the experts are saying about your stocks now at TipRanks.com . As of this writing, Harriet Lefton did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
