Trying to follow macroeconomic signals in today’s environment can be challenging, with mixed data and forecasts depending on who you ask and what indicators you look at.
BlackRock’s 2024 Global Outlook predicts a strong US labor market but adds that the upward momentum is a byproduct of a steep recovery from a pandemic. Meanwhile, slower growth and higher rates are posing too much macro uncertainty.
Pointing to strong gains on the S&P 500 is also not a perfect gauge of the economy’s health. A small sliver of the index, the Magnificent Seven, has made up much of the returns this year.
This has led some fund managers, like Bryant VanCronkhite, a senior portfolio manager at Allspring, to worry that mega-cap technology stocks are now overcrowded and ripe for a correction. Others, like Goldman Sachs, believe 2024 will be another year led by the same big players that will outperform the broad market again, according to its 2024 US equity outlook released November 15.
If you’re not confused enough, take veteran investor Jeremy Grantham, who is warning of a recession that could send stocks down by as much as 52%.
By now, it’s probably clear that there may be better options than trying to invest based on macro outlooks.
One way out is to see what Wall Street thinks about individual stocks as a starting point for researching the best picks. TipRanks, a fintech company that compiles stock-market data and research, lists the top stocks judging by sell-side analysts’ approval.
Below is a list of nine stocks with “strong buy” ratings and the highest price upsides set by top analysts.
TipRanks designates four or five-star ratings to analysts based on three main criteria:
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An analyst’s average returns
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Profits or losses on recommendations
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The volume of corrections and transactions they make
Below is a list of the nine mega-to-mid-cap stocks expected to see the highest upsides.
