The market is no stranger to volatility so far this year. And this week is no different.
The catalyst this time for the market’s latest bout of selling: Trump’s announcement that he intends to limit Chinese investment in “industrially significant technology.”
But for the savvy investor, this selloff can represent a smart buying opportunity. Here we turned to TipRanks’ market data to source the most attractive stocks right now. These three stocks below have all been hit hard by the latest round of market volatility. However, top analysts are confident that ultimately big upside potential lies ahead.
Nvidia
Hot chip stock Nvidia hasn’t been spared from the market selloff. Far from it. But, top RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves now sees huge upside potential for Nvidia of 30%. He reiterated his Nvidia Buy rating on June 24 while ramping up his price target to $310 from $300.
“We are updating our upside case model for Nvidia and believe there is potential for $13 in EPS assuming the company continues to grow at 25%+ and sees operating margin expansion,” cheers Steves in his investor report. He cites higher operating margins due to revenue flow through, and increased conviction in gaming and data center trends. Boosted by ‘hyperscale spending’, data center segment sales should grow at 100% near-term and high double digits long-term says Steves.
“If the Data Center segment continues to grow at rapid rates (highest margin business) and the operating expense line remains stable, we see potential for 45%+ operating margins,” the analyst explains. And as for gaming, we can now look forward to (1) new video game content requiring higher end GPUs; and (2) core gaming demand remaining solid due to increasing game size.
Bear in mind our data ranks Steves at #212 out of over 4,800 tracked analysts for his precise stock picking ability. Right now, he is on the bullish end of the Street consensus for Nvidia. We can see that the stock is tracking an average analyst price target of $292 (22% upside potential). This is based only on ratings from the last three months.
Netflix
Streaming giant Netflix has had a terrific growth run in its stock, more than doubling year-to-date. But for once this tech all-star has seen its stock come under pressure amid the broader market rout. From current levels, top Pivotal Research analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak sees a further 30% upside potential ahead. He boosted his price target from $420 to $500 on June 21.
Says Wlodarczak, “[Netflix] appears to operate in a virtuous cycle, as the larger their subscriber base grows, the more they can spend on original content, which increases the potential target market for their service and dramatically increases barriers to entry.”
As a result, Wlodarczak is anticipating strong results from Netflix’s second quarter earnings report on July 16. The company’s aggressive marketing strategy combined with multiple impressive content launches should bear fruit when it comes to results time, says this top analyst.
And don’t be concerned by the recent bout of M&A telecom activity. This isn’t a serious threat to Netflix according to Wlodarczak. Right now we have the AT&T and Time Warner tie-up, while Disney and Comcast are fighting for Twenty-First Century Fox’s assets.
However, both Disney and Comcast are “constrained by their reliance on the current PayTV business and media investor focus on EBITDA and free cash flow”, says Wlodarczak. This limits their investing potential, especially in the near-term when the winning bidder will be ‘weakened’ by the cash output.
Currently, Netflix scores a cautiously optimistic ‘Moderate Buy’ rating from the Street.
PayPal
Last but by no means least, we have leading global payments company PayPal. With shares now down to $83, top Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri sees big upside potential of 22%. He has just ramped up his PayPal price target from $90 to $100.
Most notably, Katri also added Paypal to the firm’s ‘Best Ideas’ list, an elite group of stocks that the firm believes will outperform. “We believe ongoing/recent monetization efforts on both consumer and merchant-facing platforms, Visa banking partnerships, as well as post-eBay separation potential opportunities could potentially accelerate top-line growth, while expanding margins,” Katri wrote.
Plus he sees the recent iZettle acquisition as a robust growth driver. The deal “significantly boosts the company’s merchant-facing monetization effort,” says Katri. Paypal picked up Swedish-based payments startup iZettle for a whopping $2.2 billion back in May. The move was widely applauded as giving Paypal a stronger global presence, especially in Europe.
Our data shows that overall PayPal scores a bullish ‘Strong Buy’ analyst consensus rating from the Street. In the last three months, 16 analysts have published buy ratings on PayPal vs 4 hold ratings.